A green turtle weighing nearly 100 kg with a tracking tag from Malaysia comes to Bay Canh Island, Con Dao to lay 108 eggs.
The turtle crawled onto the sandy beach of Bay Canh Island to dig a nest and lay eggs late on April 22. Forest rangers from Con Dao National Park, while assisting the turtle, discovered a monitoring tag from Malaysia attached to it. Con Dao is approximately 550 km away from the nearest Malaysian city, Kuala Terengganu.
The tag on the turtle. (Photo: Con Dao National Park).
According to a staff member from Con Dao National Park, this turtle weighs between 90-100 kg and is about 40 years old. The tag it carries shows the country of origin intact, but other markings have faded and cannot be fully read. Six years ago, a female turtle with an Indonesian tag came to Con Dao to lay eggs.
Last year, the beaches of Con Dao welcomed over 2,700 female turtles to lay their eggs.
The green turtle, commonly known as the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), is one of the seven species of sea turtles that still appear and breed in Con Dao. Con Dao District is the primary nesting site for 90% of green turtles in Vietnam. From 2018 to 2023, over 145,000 hatchlings were incubated here. They are tagged by Con Dao National Park before being released back into the sea.
A nest of newly laid turtle eggs. (Photo: Con Dao National Park).
Among the seven recorded species of sea turtles are: green turtle (Chelonia mydas); loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta); flatback turtle (Natator depressus); hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata); leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea); olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea); and Kemp’s ridley turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). All seven species are listed in Appendix I of the CITES Convention, and all species (except the flatback turtle) are included in Appendices I and II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
