Peru Releases 500,000 At-Risk Baby Turtles Into the Wild

By
Melissa Breyer
Melissa Breyer
Melissa Breyer
Editorial Director
  • Hunter College
  • F.I.T., State University of New York
  • Cornell University
Melissa Breyer is Treehugger’s editorial director. She is a sustainability expert and author whose work has been published by the New York Times and National Geographic, among others.
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Updated June 25, 2019
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CC BY 2.0. Bernard DUPONT / Flickr

Peruvian environmental authorities make a big statement with tiny turtles.

With so much dismal news regularly centered around the natural world, it’s heartening to hear happy things – so let’s rejoice. The National Service of Protected Natural Areas by the State (SERNANP), a Peruvian government conservation group, is releasing half a million baby yellow-spotted Amazon River turtles in a series of three releases in a protected areas of northeastern Peru's Amazon River Basin. The first turtle free-for-all took place in October and the last will be mid-November.

Known locally by the name taricayas, the turtles are considered vulnerable – the conservation effort hopes to ensure their long-term survival.

The turtle eggs were initially collected by volunteers and employees from SERNANP during August and tended to in manmade habitats during the 70 days of incubation. Once hatched, the babies are set free – hopefully to live out their lives of seven decades or more.

Via Reuters