Leatherbacks in trouble

“The way the turtle was hacked to pieces suggests that there were more than one poacher involved in its killing,” a wildlife source said.

He continued, “When game wardens returned to the scene of the butchery the following day, the turtle’s remains had disappeared.”

The source couldn’t say exactly who might have been responsible for the crime but he believed that villagers from the area could have been the offenders.

“It could be persons from the area because they would know where to go to find turtles on the beach.”

He believed that the turtle was killed for its meat.

“I don’t think the persons killed the turtle to sell it on the black market but rather for their own personal consumption,” he said. Ultimately, he said, it’s the responsibility of the Fisheries Division and the Coast Guard to enforce the marine laws regarding turtle poaching.