عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

21 Endangered Turtles Released into Arabian Gulf

Coinciding with the World Sea Turtle Day 2023, the release underscores the vital role turtles play in maintaining the balance of marine habitats. WAM
Coinciding with the World Sea Turtle Day 2023, the release underscores the vital role turtles play in maintaining the balance of marine habitats. WAM
TT
TT

21 Endangered Turtles Released into Arabian Gulf

Coinciding with the World Sea Turtle Day 2023, the release underscores the vital role turtles play in maintaining the balance of marine habitats. WAM
Coinciding with the World Sea Turtle Day 2023, the release underscores the vital role turtles play in maintaining the balance of marine habitats. WAM

Jumeirah Group’s Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project has released 15 Hawksbill and 6 Green Turtles, both of which are considered endangered species, from its Jumeirah Al Naseem beach, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported Friday.

Coinciding with the World Sea Turtle Day 2023, the release in the Arabian Gulf underscores the vital role turtles play in maintaining the balance of marine habitats, WAM said.

Among the successfully rehabilitated turtles were one large female green turtle which had suffered carapace damage due to a boat strike, as well as a male hawksbill turtle named Zippy.

Zippy was rescued by the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project in October 2022, after being found in bad shape floating near the Ras al Khaimah shoreline and reported via the 800 TURTLE helpline.

Zippy suffered intestine impaction from eating plastic debris, a severe lung infection and was completely covered in barnacles.

The event was hosted by Katerina Giannouka, Chief Executive Officer at Jumeirah Group. In her welcome speech, she said, “With many of our resorts being coastal, both here in the Middle East as well as in Europe, Indonesia and the Maldives, we witness first-hand the impact of climate change on precious marine species and these delicate ecosystems.”

“Coastal resilience and biodiversity health are critical to Jumeirah as a business and for the tourism and hospitality sector globally. We have an obligation to act now, to educate, to collaborate, and to champion progress towards a sustainable future for all," Giannouka added.

The event was attended by key partners including government representatives, academia and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Also in attendance were representatives from Yas Sea World Research and Rescue, who performed a CT scan on Zippy at the start of his remarkable rehabilitation journey.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
TT
TT

Tokyo Police Care for Lost Umbrellas, Keys, Flying Squirrels

This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
This photo taken on August 2, 2024 shows thousands of umbrellas in containers at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Lost and Found Center in the Iidabashi area of central Tokyo. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

Lost your umbrella, keys, or perhaps a flying squirrel? In Tokyo, the police are almost certainly taking meticulous care of it.

In Japan, lost items are rarely disconnected from their owners for long, even in a mega city like Tokyo -- population 14 million.

"Foreign visitors are often surprised to get their things back," said Hiroshi Fujii, a 67-year-old tour guide at Tokyo's vast police lost-and-found center.

"But in Japan, there's always an expectation that we will."

It's a "national trait" to report items found in public places in Japan, he told AFP. "We pass down this custom of reporting things we picked up, from parents to children."

Around 80 staff at the police center in Tokyo's central Iidabashi district ensure items are well organized using a database system, its director Harumi Shoji told AFP.

Everything is tagged and sorted to hasten a return to its rightful owner.

ID cards and driving licenses are most frequently lost, Shoji said.

- Flying squirrels, iguanas -

But dogs, cats and even flying squirrels and iguanas have been dropped off at police stations, where officers look after them "with great sensitivity" -- consulting books, online articles and vets for advice.

More than four million items were handed in to Tokyo Metropolitan Police last year, with about 70 percent of valuables such as wallets, phones and important documents successfully reunited with their owners.

"Even if it's just a key, we enter details such as the mascot keychain it's attached to," Shoji said in a room filled with belongings, including a large Cookie Monster stuffed toy.

Over the course of one afternoon, dozens of people came to collect or search for their lost property at the center, which receives items left with train station staff or at small local police stations across Tokyo if they are not claimed within two weeks.

If no one turns up at the police facility within three months, the unwanted item is sold or discarded.

The number of lost items handled by the center is increasing as Japan welcomes a record influx of tourists post-pandemic, and as gadgets become smaller, Shoji said.

Wireless earphones and hand-held fans are an increasingly frequent sight at the lost-and-found center, which has been operating since the 1950s.

But a whopping 200 square meters is dedicated to lost umbrellas -- 300,000 of which were brought in last year, with only 3,700 of them returned, Shoji said.

"We have a designated floor for umbrellas... during the rainy season, there are so many umbrellas that the umbrella trolley is overflowing and we have to store them in two tiers."