Turtle Rescue Update, 13 July 2020
Turtle Rescue Project Update, 13 July 2020
The weather here in the Tapiche Jungle Reserve in the Northern Amazon of Peru has been very rainy and relatively cold during the past week which means that the turtles didn't lay any nests. We have observed that the turtles only lay their eggs in the dry and warm sand, so the weather conditions have not been what the turtles like and need.
As you can see, the strong rain has destroyed the beaches. The rain has taken a lot of the soft sand and what is left is mostly muddy and still wet.
Yesterday was the first day of strong and hot sun during the past week, so the turtles came out to check out the beaches again - and look how many!!! Even though a lot of them just checked the beaches and did not lay their eggs yet, we still found about 500 eggs yesterday evening. We are currently at a count of 1875 eggs and this is just the beginning of this year's nesting season.
Unfortunately nowhere else in this region you would find a beach looking like this - with LOTS of turtles walking all over the beach to search for a place to lay their nests. There are almost no turtles left outside of the reserve due to them being heavily poached.
The taricaya (Podocnemis unifilis) along with the cupiso (Podocnemis sextuberculata) and the giant charapa (Podocnemis expansa) are technically protected by conservation law against trading due to the high risk of species extinction, but enforcement of the laws is weak to non-existent in our region, and the lure of high black market payoffs continue to entice poachers. Often they will even wait for the mother turtle to finish laying her eggs before taking her to market, too, which wipes out two generations in one move and devastates the life cycle.
That's why we are working very hard collecting the nests and protecting those future baby turtles!
Even though it may be a while before you can visit and support us in person, please consider helping us with the Turtle Rescue Project from afar: https://gf.me/u/yabgw7