TOURISTS and school children gathered on Ngapali Beach in Rakhine State to save a Giant Hawksbill turtle that was in danger of being illegally sold.

Witnesses said the turtle had been captured by fishermen at the request of the business man, who apparently intended to eat the animal.

Some European tourists who saw the turtle being dragged from the sea immediately began negotiating with the business man to release it, said U Oliver E. Soe Thet, the president of the Myanmar Chefs Association, who witnessed the incident last month. Children and teachers from Myabin primary school had also come down to the beach to join the effort to persuade the business man to free the turtle, said U Oliver E. Soe Thet, the former manager of the Bayview Beach Resort at Ngapali.

After spirited bargaining by the tourists, the teachers and the school children, the fishermen decided to release the turtle, he said.

The turtle, estimated to weigh up to 70 kilograms, was returned to the sea “to the noisy and happy cheers of the school kids,” U Oliver E. Soe Thet said.

Giant Hawksbills are among seven species of sea turtles that are on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of endangered birds and animals.

The Giant Hawksbill has been protected in Myanmar waters since June 2001.
U Oliver E. Soe Thet said it was his hope that “in the future all visitors to Ngapali Beach will be educated, and become more sensitive to, the value of Myanmar’s wildlife.”