Three men have been arrested at Unawatuna on suspicion of using protected sea turtles to entertain foreign tourists and then demanding money from them, the Daily Mirror reported.
The suspects — aged 23, 41 and 45, all residents of Thalpe — were taken into custody by Unawatuna Tourist Police after information that they were displaying turtles to tourists and demanding payment.
The allegations
Police said the men encouraged tourists to feed the turtles, and handled and lifted the animals by hand, causing distress to the protected creatures.
Sea turtles are protected under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. Harming a protected animal or keeping one in captivity is a serious offence under the Ordinance.
The three were arrested by a team of Unawatuna Tourist Police officers including the Officer-in-Charge, and handed to Habaraduwa Police for further legal action.
Not the first case at the site
Police said two other people had previously been arrested at the same location over similar allegations involving the display of turtles to foreign tourists and the collection of money. They were subsequently produced before court.
That repetition points to an established practice at the beach rather than an isolated incident, though the report does not say how far apart the two cases fell or whether the earlier prosecution concluded.
Context
Sri Lanka’s turtle populations are a significant draw for coastal tourism, and the contrast with managed conservation is sharp. At Rekawa, roughly 40km east along the same southern coast, a community-run nest-protection programme marked 30 years of operation this month, built on paying former egg poachers to guard nests instead.
Unawatuna, one of the island’s busiest tourist beaches, has drawn police attention over tourist-facing offences before, including the arrest of a massage therapist over an assault complaint by an Australian visitor.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not say how many turtles were involved, whether they were wild animals approached on the beach or held somewhere, or what has happened to them. It does not state how much money the suspects are alleged to have obtained, whether any tourist made a complaint, what specific charges will be brought, or when the three will be produced in court.
It also does not say whether the Department of Wildlife Conservation is involved alongside the police.
Sourcing note
Ada Derana also reported the arrests, but its site was returning a CloudFront block (854 bytes) throughout this cycle and its report could not be fetched or dated, so it is not cited here. NewsFirst, Hiru News, the Island, Daily FT, Colombo Gazette, Daily News and EconomyNext had not filed on the case at the time of writing.
