Komodo National Park Relocated 86 Green Turtle Eggs to Loh Wau

Labuan Bajo — Staff at Komodo National Park relocated 86 green turtle eggs from Pulau Lengah to a semi-natural hatchery at Resort Loh Wau during a monitoring operation from May 11 to 17, 2022, according to the park authority’s report published by Indonesia’s conservation agency.

The report said the nests on Pulau Lengah were identified as green turtle nests (Chelonia mydas) after the team examined nest structure, egg measurements and tracks left by adult turtles and hatchlings.

Park staff found three former nests on the beach and decided to move the eggs to Loh Wau as a conservation measure, the report said.

The stated goal was to improve hatching success, reduce the risk of eggs being taken by unauthorized people and limit the chance of failed hatching caused by overcrowding in nearby nests.

The 2022 monitoring team worked under a night-surveillance schedule in four shifts and included Tebursio Da Costa, head of Resort Loh Wau and a forest ecosystem controller, along with staff and a resident of Kampung Komodo named Taufik.

In the same report, the park said Resort Loh Wau had hatched 481 relocated turtle eggs in 2021, describing the hatchery as a learning site for turtle ecology and reproductive-cycle studies inside the national park.

A separate KSDAE report from 2021 described another relocation at Loh Wau, when 59 of 116 green turtle eggs found at Pulau Lengah were moved to a semi-natural nest after the others were found damaged, and the eggs were kept under routine temperature monitoring during incubation.

That earlier report also said hatchlings from the 2020 relocation were released at Loh Wau Beach after 52 eggs hatched from 60 moved eggs, giving a reported hatch rate of 86.67%.

Key figures

• 86 green turtle eggs relocated in May 2022.
• Three former nests identified on Pulau Lengah.
• 481 relocated turtle eggs hatched at Resort Loh Wau in 2021, according to the park report.

The park report also framed local participation as part of broader turtle conservation in Komodo National Park, where staff regularly monitor nesting beaches and collect data on nests, eggs, turtle behavior and nearby vegetation.

Sources

• KSDAE / Komodo National Park report, Menjaga Asa Sarang Telur Penyu TN Komodo
• KSDAE (park article page)