KARWAR: The Honnavar Forest Department along with the local fishermen have rescued turtle eggs which were targeted by feral dogs.
The olive ridley turtles have started arriving to breed in several beaches of Uttara Kannada district. However, at instances, most of these eggs end up being food for predators -- particularly the stray dogs and birds -- even before the forest department and the locals come to know about it
However, the local fishermen have been helping the forest department to protect them. In one such incident, the local fishermen upon finding a few dogs digging the shore, drove the dogs away. “ Upon investigations, they found that they are eggs of either olive ridley or green turtles, which come to breed on these shores and they informed the forest department about them” Prakash Mesta, Kumta based marine expert told TNIE.
The department staff soon arrived at the spot, found the eggs covered them with sand. “There were a total of 128 eggs. We brought them to our conservation centre in Mavinkurve in Haldipura in Honnavar taluk,” informed Honnavar RFO Sharath Shetty. He said that he got a call about the eggs at the midnight and left very early to bring them to the centre,” the RFO said.
According to marine biologists, the mother turtles lay eggs in the sand and leave the spot for the eggs to hatch by itself. “Moisture in the sand and temperature will help hatch the eggs. The sex of the hatchlings will be determined by the temperature. If the temperature is high these hatchlings will be male and if it is less, they will be female,” said Proffessor Haragi, Asst Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Karnataka University, Dharwad.