How a plan to save a Taiwan island’s sea turtles turned catastrophic for its other inhabitants
- A long-term conservation effort to protect green sea turtles on a remote island led to a dramatic decline in the lizard population
- A more comprehensive strategy is needed to reverse a sharp decline in other animals on Orchid Island, researchers say
Human efforts to protect the eggs of green sea turtles from predators on a remote Taiwanese island appear to have backfired, according to a two-decade-long study.
The conservation effort on Orchid Island off the southeast coast of Taiwan, which involved fencing off snakes to prevent them from preying on the turtle eggs, instead forced the predators to resort to hunting other reptiles, potentially collapsing the lizard population, according to researchers.
The significant drop in lizard populations revealed the unintended consequences that could result from conservation efforts focused on a single species, highlighting the importance of developing more comprehensive solutions.
“When this subsidy was removed, these snakes shifted into other habitats for alternative prey, perhaps driving the widespread decline of those lizard species vulnerable to egg predation,” the team wrote.
Orchid Island is a 45 sq km (17.4 square mile) volcanic land mass that has long provided sea turtles a nesting refuge, and the flourishing kukri snake population an abundant food source, helping to transfer nutrients from the ocean to the land.
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Filipino turtle poachers become protectors in marine conservation push
According to the WWF, green sea turtles are one of the largest sea turtles and are threatened by overharvesting of their eggs, hunting of adults, being caught in fishing gear and loss of nesting beach sites.