Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Monday took a break from his political activities to bond with nature.
Accompanied by his sister, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari, Bilawal made his way to Hawke’s Bay Beach where he released 300 baby green turtles into the sea. According to details, Bilawal was very excited to touch the baby turtles who were hatched at the Marine Turtle Conservation Nursery of Sindh Wildlife Department.
The Sindh Wildlife Department, along with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), has been carrying out a sea turtle conservation project in Pakistan since 1979. Adults are tagged and the eggs collected from the beach are incubated in special enclosures at Hawkesbay and Sandspit. Hatchlings are weighed and counted at the Sindh Wildlife lab at the beach and the relevant data is gathered.
Though adult sea turtles spend most of their lives in the oceans, they return to the beach where they were born to lay their eggs. Every year in October and November, green sea turtles arrive at the sandy beaches of Sindh and Balochistan which are important nesting sites for sea turtles. The turtles lay their eggs there and leave after burying them. This is where the wildlife department steps in a takes care of the eggs, which are vulnerable and can easily be preyed. After an incubation period of about two months the youngsters hatch and scramble towards the water. Only one in a thousand survive to adulthood.
Watch video of the Bhutto-Zardari siblings releasing sea turtles here:
Meanwhile, Bakhtawar also shared her experience on Twitter:
