Press Releases

AFCD releases tagged Green Turtles
Sunday, October 28, 2001

Twenty juvenile Green Turtles were tagged, microchipped and released to the sea by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and Ocean Park as a long-term monitoring programme to conserve this highly endangered species.

The batch of eggs from which the juvenile Green Turtles were hatched was rescued from a beach on September 29 last year because the nesting site was located below the high tide mark and would be submerged under high tides. AFCD later successfully hatched the eggs in an artificial environment.

AFCD Wetland and Fauna Conservation Officer Mr Simon Chan Kin-fung said, "As the turtles have grown bigger, they were tagged and released to the sea as part of our sea turtle conservation program. The practice is also adopted by a number of countries which are frequented by turtles.

"When researchers or conservationists in other parts of the world see a turtle tagged with Hong Kong identity, they will inform us, thus making it possible for us to learn about the migratory route and size of the locally hatched Green Turtles. The more we know about the species, the better we can do to conserve them."

A small metal alloy tag, etched with the abbreviation of Hong Kong and an identification number and the address of AFCD, has been attached to the front flipper of each Green Turtle. An electronic microchip containing a unique code for individual identification has also been inserted to the hind flipper of the turtle.

"The double-tagging arrangement is very important because even if the external tag is lost, we can still ascertain the identity of an individual turtle from the microchip's record when the matured turtles return to nest in Hong Kong some 20 to 30 years later," he said.

The 20 juvenile Green Turtles were hatched in late November last year. As the sea water temperature at that time was too low for immediate release of the baby turtles, AFCD sought the assistance of Ocean Park to take care of the turtles for about a year.

"We extend our gratitude to Ocean Park for their intensive care of the turtles," Mr Chan said.

Curator of Aquarium of Ocean Park Mr David Lai said, "The baby turtles were very active in learning to dive and to capture food during their stay in our aquarium. They were fed with fish, squids, and formulated feeds.

"After 10 months of care, the 23 grammes and 5 centimetres long hatchlings have grown up to juvenile Green Turtles weighing 2.4 kilogrammes and measuring 27 centimetres in carapace length on average.

"The juvenile Green Turtles, which are now bigger in size, are less likely to be preyed upon by predators and should have a higher survival rate in the wild," he added.