KOTA KINABALU, March 9 — Wildlife officers found the slaughtered carcasses of 19 endangered green turtles here on Pulau Tiga in northern Sabah last week, reminiscent to a scene almost a year ago when 50 turtle carcasses were found on the same island.

Sabah Wildlife Department west coast wildlife officer Roland Niun said that it was believed that foreign fishermen were trying to smuggle the live turtles out of the country, but failed to do due to the patrols by Malaysian security forces.

“The island is strategically located for smugglers as it is the closest island to the Philippines and is uninhabited,” Roland said in a statement issued by the department.

The island, which shares the same name as another island on the west coast of Sabah that was featured in the very first reality series “Survivor”, is located north of Kudat and about two hours by speedboat from Banggi island.

“What is quite sad for me though is that based on a newspaper report on Sunday, that particular article details that some members of the public had information about this happening, but failed to inform the relevant authorities. If they had passed the information to us then maybe we could have acted fast enough to catch them” Roland added.

The island where the turtle carcasses were found is within the proposed Tun Mustapa Marine Park, which measures almost one million hectares. It harbours some of the richest marine flora and fauna in the world and is also home to more than 80,000 coastal dwellers that depend on a healthy and sustainable supply of marine resources.

Rangers from the Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Parks inspect the turtle carcasses found on Pulau Tiga, March 9, 2015. — Picture courtesy of Sabah Wildlife Department

It is also under the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM), a new zone mooted after terrorist attacks a year ago to control cross border crime including kidnapping and smuggling activities.

“What has happened here is a great tragedy especially since it occurred before at the very same place.

“We hope to work with the relevant authorities to monitor and patrol these areas and catch the culprits responsible for this heinous crime,” said the Sabah Wildlife Department director William Baya.

The carcasses were later brought to Kota Kinabalu for a full post-mortem to be carried out.

“Though most of the carcasses are in a very decomposed state, it is hoped some light can be shed on the cause of death for these turtles, thus assisting in the investigation,” said William.

Under  the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 Section 1 Schedule 1,  the Green Turtle is Fully Protected Species and any person convicted for hunting this species can face up to five years in jail or a fine of RM 50,000, and or both.