Darwin Initiative Project Supports Need To Reduce Illegal Take Of Turtles

Recently while on patrol, Department of Environment (DoE) Chief Conservation Officer Mark Orr discovered signs indicating that a nesting green turtle was taken illegally in West Bay. The adult female green turtle apparently was dragged off when she came onto the beach to lay eggs.

'This incident was discovered on 6 October. This summer, DoE volunteers also discovered parts of a slaughtered loggerhead turtle in North Side', Mr Orr said. 'We don't believe these are isolated incidents; we believe other, undetected incidents have also taken place'.

DoE staff say that results from new and ongoing research show the urgency of reducing the illegal take of green turtles from Cayman's small nesting population. The research involves a night-time tagging project, funded by the UK Darwin Initiative and launched in June 2014, and a daytime beach monitoring programme that began in 1999.