Malaysian experts has denied a UN report which said leatherback turtles were effectively extinct in the country, although they acknowledged there had been a drastic decline in numbers.

Kamaruddin Ibrahim, the director of the Turtle and Marine Ecosystem Centre in eastern Terengganu state which is a nesting ground for the leatherbacks, said they could still be seen landing on the state's shores.

"It is correct when one says the population of the leatherback has declined drastically ... but the turtle has not become extinct," Kamaruddin was quoted as saying by Bernama.

The United Nations Environment Programme this week said a new report on leatherback turtles found that the gentle creatures were "effectively extinct" in Malaysia.

It also said there were concerns numbers were declining worldwide due to the destruction of their habitats and legal and illegal harvesting of the turtles and their eggs.

Nesting places discovered

According to the report, Malaysian leatherback rookeries have declined from about 5,000 nests per year in the 1960s down to fewer than 10 nests per year so far this decade.

But Kamaruddin said the discovery of the leatherback nesting places in recent years was evidence they were not extinct in the country.

Fourteen nests were found in 2003 and five in 2004, he said. One nest was found last year.

"This year, we found five nesting places with 336 eggs of two leatherback turtles," Kamaruddin said.

Turtles are hunted for their meat and shells, and are also killed by getting entangled in fishing nets in the open seas.

A tourism industry boom has contributed to the decline, with hotels and bright lights near the beachfront caused turtles to shy away.