In the video that accompanies this news, you can see the nesting and birth of the largest concentration on the planet of Latin American freshwater turtles.
With an average size of 1.07 meters long and 90 kilos in weight, these specimens gather along the Inténez river basins, in the western Amazon region.
Thanks to the images recorded by the Organization for the Conservation of Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), hundreds of thousands of baby river turtles can be seen emerging from their nests and congregating on the sandbanks. before dispersing down the river.
Turtles play an important ecological role by dispersing their own seeds that, over time, help regenerate vegetation along river corridors.
In addition, they make an important contribution of biomass to the river's food web.
Beginning in late September, some 80,000 adult female turtles gather on these beaches to dig nests and lay their eggs.
The hatchlings began to hatch in mid-December, and have continued through early January.
The WCS is combining the results of its programs in Bolivia and Brazil to develop a coordinated multinational project to conserve this species of South American river turtle.
A key population that used to have millions of specimens and that now, due to the overexploitation of the species to market its meat and oil, has been declining.
“Safeguarding this population of giant river tortoises requires a community approach,” says the Scientific Director of WCS Colombia, Germán Forero-Medina.
WCS partners protect eggs from poachers by recording nesting females along shoals and collecting data that will help create a conservation plan for the species, including establishing a permanently protected area.
