The
Arrau turtle is threatened with extinction, so every year conservationists
in Venezuela collect thousands of the hatchlings, raise them in captivity
and then release them into the wild to try to guarantee the survival of
the species.
Hunted for their meat and eggs by native Indians and other residents
living along the banks of Venezuela's mighty Orinoco river, the population
numbers of the species known in Latin as Podocnemis Expansa have declined
dramatically over the last century.
"The problem is basically human. Residents of the region have a strong
tradition of eating the eggs, eating the newborns and the adult turtles,"
Omar Hernandez, coordinator of the government-funded programme to save the
turtles, told Reuters.
Although the species has been legally protected since the 1960s,
turtles are sold at local markets for nearly $100 each. The region's poor
inhabitants, mostly farmers, simply go to the river and catch them to
enrich their meagre diet.
For the last 11 years, Venezuela's Scientific Development Foundation
FUDECI has spearheaded the project to raise and release young Arrau
turtles into the Orinoco.
The release point is a sun-baked sandy islet in southwest Venezuela
where the Orinoco flows between the isolated and jungle-covered states of
Apure and Bolivar.
During the 19th century, the German naturalist and explorer Alexander
von Humboldt estimated there were at least 300,000 adult female turtles,
Hernandez said.
Today, despite the prohibition on hunting, only about 1,000 female
adults lay their eggs on the jungle islands and beaches of the Orinoco,
one of the world's largest rivers.
A small team of biologists, ecologists and government officials
annually takes thousands of recently born turtles from the river to a
nearby breeding centre to protect them for a year and strengthen their
chances of survival in the wild.
INTO THE WATER
When they are born, Arrau turtles are the size of a coin and easy to
catch. Avid predators include not just local fishermen, but a long list of
wild creatures such as the catfish, the heron and the black and white
"cari-cari" hawks that swoop over the banks of the river.
When freed, the young turtles measure a more robust five inches (12 cm)
in diameter and are safe from most of their natural enemies. "We can avoid
the high mortality rate and the animals are much more likely to escape,"
Hernandez said.
The Arrau turtles that inhabit the basin of the Orinoco and Amazon
rivers are also found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and
Peru. When fully grown, they can reach about a metre (three feet) in
length.
The FUDECI project financed by the government has released about
120,000 Arrau turtles into the wild since it began, including 16,000 freed
during the latest operation in April.
Next year, Venezuela expects to release about 50,000 turtles into the
Orinoco, one of the key spawning areas for the turtles, Environment
Minister Ana Elisa Osorio said.
The government hopes the project will help take the Arrau off the
endangered list. The turtles reach sexual maturity around 15, so in the
next three years, some raised briefly in captivity should start to bred.
COLOMBIAN BROTHERS
Venezuela is studying joint conservation projects with Colombia since
the turtles often swim across the border between the two Andean
neighbours, said Colombian Environment Minister Cecilia Rodriguez, who
attended April's turtle release.
"This is a species of habitual migrants. Without a doubt these turtles
released here will pass through the River Meta and say hello to their
Colombian brothers," the minister said.
The proximity of the border with war-torn Colombia is evident.
Journalists, officials and project members who witnessed April's release
operation reached the islet on National Guard patrol boats bristling with
weapons.
Angel Brito, one of the turtle project pioneers, is less worried about
border tensions than about preserving the planet for his children.
"Our greatest hope is that our children and grandchildren can get to
know this important species, the hope that we can save a species," Brito
said as he watched the last few turtles paddle slowly into the swirling
currents of the great river.
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