is low. 

 future . 



This could be a potential problem for the 



FRETEY : 

 LIMPUS ; 



MARQUE Z : 



LIMPUS ; 



CANIN ; 



LIMPUS ; 



SCHULZ ; 



Large numbers of juvenile flatbacks are being 

 found beneath the feeding stations of fish eagles. 

 Young turtles do not appear to have an oceanic 

 developmental stage, but stay on the Australian 

 continental shelf. 



The flatback is the turtle I'm in love with! 



How is flatback skin like Dermochelvs ? 



The keratinized exterior layer is very thin. 

 Scratching it with your fingernail can draw blood. 



Does this turtle suffer any commercial capture? 

 Is it known by any other name besides Kikila? 



It is known to the Indonesians, but is very 

 infrequently seen. Any exploitation is minor. It 

 has no commercial use in Australia, though 

 aborigines are allowed to take them for their own 

 use. In some areas, 100% of the eggs are lost to 

 pigs (Queensland) , but overall this loss amounts 

 to only 10% for all of Queensland. 



The main threat, which is potential, comes from 

 shrimp trawlers. Their only other serious 

 predator, the salt water crocodile, is so rare 

 that it poses no serious threat. 



Is the population increasing, decreasing or 

 stable? 



The major nesting beaches were unknown to us until 

 quite recently; most have been discovered since 

 1968. We really haven't got enough data to answer 

 that question yet. 



Lessons are to be learned from the turtle 

 situation in Indonesia, concerning the last four 

 decades during which egg harvests and turtle 

 catches have risen to excess to such an extent, 

 that the turtle problem is now considered as 

 constituting possibly the most urgent single 

 conservation challenge facing the Indonesian 

 conservation authorities. In Indonesia, like in 

 many other countries in the world, the previous 

 levels of subsistence and commercial exploitation 

 have risen to excess as local cultures declined. 



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