46 critically endangered Hawksbill turtle babies hatched at one of S'pore's Southern Islands

After a close shave from becoming a monitor lizard's meal

Zhangxin Zheng | November 02, 2017, 10:44 PM

To critically endangered Hawksbill turtles, Singapore seems to be one of their favourite spots to visit.

A mother turtle and 32 hatchlings ended up at East Coast Park on two separate occasions in August:

Close monitoring

NParks shared in a post on Nov. 2 that 46 turtle eggs hatched or were released safely under close monitoring by relevant agencies at one of the Southern Islands.

A volunteer had accidentally stumbled upon this batch of turtle eggs on Sept. 8 morning, when he saw a monitor lizard feeding on the eggs.

The ones survived from the monitor lizard's attack were monitored and protected by NParks and Singapore Land Authority since then, until their hatch-day yesterday.

Here are some snapshots of the turtles waddling out of the nest:

Photo from NParks

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While natural predation is inevitable, this species of turtles are more often than not threatened by poaching and accidental removal by fishing nets, which have led to an alarming drop in population over the years.

Photo from NParks

Good luck, little ones.

Top Photo from NParks Facebook Post