The Malaysian Nature Society is up in arms over a series of photos depicting tourists on a Pangkor Island beach manhandling a turtle classified as being ‘critically endangered’ on global conservation lists.
MNS’s head of communications Andrew Sebastian expressed his organisation’s “shock and dismay” over the incident involving a hawksbill sea turtle, and urged local law enforcement to step up their oversight and prevention measures.
“Locals and tourists alike should be aware that the Wildlife Conservation Act calls for heavy penalties to be imposed on those harassing animals,” he told The Rakyat Post‘s Sean Augustin.
The hawksbill sea turtle was declared a ‘critically endangered’ species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List in 1996.
Naturalist and local tour guide Irshad Mobarak cautioned that the turtles could die from stress-induced shock due to being mishandled by members of the public.
“Many people think they are not harming the animal when handling them. But it’s not good for the animal.
“They should just enjoy nature from afar in the natural state,” he said.
The turtle depicted in the photos, however, seemed to be still young, and survived being picked up and examined by tourists.
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