American student on a mission to save terrapins in Malaysia

She has placed trackers on terrapins to determine their habitat, growth, population as well as factors that could lead to their extinction.

SETIU, Malaysia - An American's passion to save endangered river turtles has led her far from home, all the way to Kampung Mangkok in Penarik here.

Margaret Leigh Perry, a student researcher from North Carolina, said the plight of the turtles, better known as terrapins, had often been her concern.

"I am passionate about turtle conservation, especially the river terrapin, as it is the most endangered in the region.

"That is why I am here in Terengganu, where the number of river terrapins is decreasing," she told The Star yesterday.

Perry, 25, said her nine months in the village had helped her understand the terrapins better as well as spread more awareness among the villagers on activities that might affect the terrapin population.

She has placed trackers on terrapins to determine their habitat, growth, population as well as factors that could lead to their extinction.

"I spend most of my time at the river, researching the terrapins. The villagers love to collect turtle eggs. Some of them eat the eggs while others sell them. Thus, it is important to educate them on the negative effects of their actions," she said.

Staying with a local family, the American popularly known in the village as Meg said the key to conservation was finding a balance between the people's needs and the needs of the environment.

Aside from her research, Perry also teaches English to the local children.

In the midst of it all, she has picked up a bit of Bahasa Malaysia.

"I started with zero Malay to being fluent in words such as tak faham (don't understand) and tak tahu (don't know).

"My favourite word is boleh (can)," she said.

Perry has taken a liking to the food, too, especially lempeng (Malay pancake), which can be eaten with curry or sugar.

"Although we are from opposite sides of the world, people are universal in their traits. Harmony can be seen everywhere," she said.

Perry, who is in the last month of her research, said she was looking forward to going home to see her parents and two younger sisters.

"However, this place and the people will forever remain in my heart," she said.

More male turtles needed

GEORGE TOWN: Penang is trying to hatch more male turtles to mate with females so that the reptiles will not disappear from the island's coastlines.

The Pantai Kerachut Turtle Conservation Sanctuary is working to maintain a breeding ratio of 70 females to 30 males under a programme which began three years ago.

Department licensing and resource protection officer Mansor Yobe said they needed to have more male turtles for the females which come to shore to lay their eggs eight times a year.

"If we don't do this, there may not be any turtles left here in future," he said at the sanctuary at the north-west tip of Penang island.

Besides Green Turtles, the Olive Ridley Turtles are also known to lay their eggs at Pantai Kerachut, Pantai Teluk Kampi, Pantai Teluk Ailing and Pantai Teluk Ketapang on the island's north-west coast.

Mansor said records from 2000 until 2006 showed that close to 100% of all hatchlings at the sanctuary were females.

He said they then started testing various sites by burying the eggs in shaded spots under trees or in cooler areas to try to get more male turtles hatched.

He added that a shaded hatchery was built at a cost of RM16,500 (S$6,348) in 2009 to help determine the gender of the turtles.

"After collecting the eggs from several sites, we placed them in the shaded hatchery where the temperature is about 28.2 degrees Celsius.

"Eggs buried in the sand outside the shaded hatchery will produce females as the temperature there is hotter at 30 degrees Celsius," he said.

He said eggs at the sanctuary were hatched on the beach rather than in a temperature-controlled incubator because research has shown this produced healthier hatchlings.

He said last year, some 5,000 eggs were collected and 70% were successfully hatched.

"We hope to collect the same number this year," he said, adding that the peak period for turtles to lay eggs is between December and August.