Pig- nosed turtles (Carettochelys insculpta) (Jubi)
Timika, 15/2 (Jubi) – A total of 2,537 pig- nosed turtles (Carettochelys insculpta) that were seized after a smuggling attempt were released into their native habitat in Lorents Park Aquatic, Papua on Thursday night ( 2/13) on Thursday (2/14).
Environmental Manager of PT Freeport Indonesia, Gesang Setyadi, said since 2006 more than 1,600 pig-nosed turtles or labi-labi, had been released.
“There have been four cases in which pig-nosed turtles were captured and returned to the Lorentz park,” said Gesang told reporters on the Amapoka ship owned by PT Freeport Indonesia, which supported the acitivities.
He said the activities were part of environmental policies of PT Freeport Indonesia to support the conservation of biodiversity in Papua.
PT. Freeport Indonesia has worked closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Agency ( KSDA).
Director General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Sonny Faiz, said there was a lack of information on the population status of Kura – Kura Irian or Irian Turtles, causing difficulties in determining the types of hunting species.
“In fact, illegal, commercial hunting has been happening since the last decade. On January 15, 2014 CITES MA Hong Kong seized 2,754 tails sent to Hong Kong from Indonesia, without legal documents which is ie CITES export permit. At the same time, as many as 2,200 species were rescued from a single smuggling operation,” Sonny told tabloidjubi.com
“The NGO Freeland and PT Freeport Indonesia also fully support the preparations for their release into their natural habitat in Papua, such as animal health certificates, document preparation freight, air transport readiness Jakarta-Papua, and local transportation,” he said.
The guinea pig- nosed turtles (Carettoche insculpta) is one of the Jenin wildlife endemic in New Guinea. It is also found in Papua New Guinea and Australia. In Indonesia, it is protected under Government Act No. 77 of 1999. (Jubi / Joumilena/ Tina)
