Dr Dino’s passion for turtles

Dr Dionysius S. K. Sharma has spent the past 13 years working for environmental conservation and is now a familiar figure to many Malaysians. K.S. USHA DEVI reports. 

POSTCARDS bearing pictures of different types of turtles feature prominently on Dr Dionysius S. K. Sharma’s desk in his office at WWF Malaysia in Petaling Jaya. 

A well-known conservationist, Dr Sharma, or Dr Dino as he is popularly known, became attached to the reptiles during his first assignment, which was to study the habitat of leatherback turtles in the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, for WWF Malaysia way back in 1990.  

He has worked with other wildlife since then but turtles remain close to his heart. 

 

DAKTAR ... Dr Sharma explaining his passion for conservation.

“Among the various things that interest me, reptiles are quite close to my heart,’’ says Dr Sharma, 38, who is currently senior head of the Animal Species Conservation Unit of WWF Malaysia.  

Dr Sharma’s interest in the environment began at a very young age, and all because of the secondary jungle behind his house in his hometown of Malacca. 

Imbued with a strong sense of curiosity, he went into the jungle whenever the chance presented to catch birds and snakes.  

“I enjoyed watching their form, their functions and beauty,’’ says Dr Sharma, the fifth child among 10 siblings. 

“At that time, when I caught something in my hand, I could actually appreciate it. 

“I realised too that there was this inherent feeling of wanting to associate with these animals.’’ 

Over time, that patch of jungle began to gradually give way to development, leaving Dr Sharma with a deep desire for things to remain the way they were. 

He did not know it then, but that was the spark that started the fire of environmental conservation in his soul.  

That childhood fire was never quenched, and when he went to university, he decided to pursue a degree on ecology. 

His original ambition had been to become a veterinarian, however. 

“The television series Daktari left a profound impression on me because of the care given to the animals in Africa by the doctors,’’ he says. 

It was a trip to the WWF that finally made him realise what he wanted his lifetime career to be, and the chance came while he was pursuing his Masters. 

WWF Malaysia was looking for a conservation officer, and Dr Sharma put in his application without giving it a second thought.  

“It was too easy. It was like the job was being served to me on a silver platter. 

It was what I wanted to do,’’ Dr Sharma recalls with a laugh. 

Dressed in rugged terrain clothes, and sporting long hair and a beard, Dr Sharma seems to have been born with the thirst for adventure, a trait that fitted the career he was about to pursue. 

“This was not work, it was passion and desire. 

“It was living up to my childhood dream,’’ explains Dr Sharma, who is of Indian and Eurasian parentage and grew up amongst a family who loved animals. 

“My father loved animals. At one point we had 12 dogs at home,’’ he says.  

But going for that first assignment – studying the habitat of leatherback turtles – was like being thrown in the deep end, he admits.  

A year later, he was assigned to Sabah to study proboscis monkeys, an assignment that turned out to be an eye-opening experience with both the diversity of the wildlife and the rough living conditions in his new posting being quite novel for him.  

“There was no fresh water source, no electricity, and we lived in a shack. Basically we trudged down the polluted Kinabatangan river daily to study the monkeys,’’ he says. 

He added that he contracted malaria twice during that period in Sabah.  

Despite the obstacles that he has to go through in the course of his work, Dr Sharma remains optimistic about this consuming passion in life. 

“We might not win the war but every small battle that we win counts. 

“With proper environmental management and macro planning, I believe that we can have development while simultaneously enjoying natural resources and space,’’ he reasons. 

He took time off to complete his doctoral studies in England, after which he came back and immediately offered his services to WWF again.  

“I knew there was so much to be done here in terms of research and conservation. In the long run, conservation would beneficial to everyone,” he says. 

He is now also involved in running education camps to teach youngsters about ecology and conservation. 

During the camps, children are shown slide shows about the importance of conserving the environment and taken to turtle nesting areas to give them a feel of the turtle hatchlings.  

“This increases their knowledge about the importance of conservation,’’ Dr Sharma says. 

“These days, most children, especially those in urban areas, do not have the chance to explore their environment,’’ he laments.  

To illustrate an example, he relates an incident where a WWF volunteer became very excited when she saw a goat. 

She knew about mutton but had not actually seen the living version, and she insisted on being photographed with the animal by her side.  

“She’d never had the opportunity to touch and feel a real goat. 

“To her it was a revelation of sorts,’’ says Dr Sharma. 

When he is not engrossed in his job, Dr Sharma likes to read and listen to music. 

His preferred reading materials are those about the environment and wildlife diversity.  

As for music, Dr Sharma who is a keen guitar player loves the music of the 1970s.  

“I am not a fan of commercial pop and I prefer listening to music that is simple and easy to understand,’’ he says adding that these included the Bee Gees, Deep Purple and Def Leppard.  

Dr Sharma intends to continue working for environmental conservation for as long as he can.  

“I hope to walk out of this organisation with a walking stick,’’ he says, a determined expression etched all over his face.  

It’s this determination, plus his positive attitude, that keeps him going.  

“I believe that whatever I want to do, I should do it well. 

“This was also the motto of my school in Malacca,’’ says Dr Sharma, a former St Francis Institution student. 

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