Amazon River Turtles or ‘Charapas’ are an endangered species that the Cofan (an indigenous group of people deep in the jungles of Ecuador) are rehabilitating. Once, the headwaters of the Amazon had plentiful amounts of turtles, but by the 90’s the populations had dwindled. One might see no more than a few nests a year, but since 2000 the Cofans have begun to help reestablish the turtle population. Now, it is more common to see a couple hundred nests a year on their part of the river in northern Ecuador.
We need your help to keep this project going! For your donation of $10 we will release a turtle in your name, and you will receive a short video of the release. Your donation will go toward keeping the project going.
The project works like this:
Early in the morning someone will go out looking for turtle nests. The rivers are constantly flooding, often destroying nests if not found in time. Eggs are also in danger of poachers. The eggs are then moved to artificial beaches where they can hatch in safety and grow bigger in small man-made ponds. Once they are large enough to have a better chance of survival, they are released into side streams of the large Aguarico river. Adopting a turtle will allow for more Cofan workers to comb the beaches to save these eggs and fund the construction of additional beaches and ponds to support the survival of the Amazon River Turtle. Without your donation the Amazon River Turtle may soon risk extinction.
Help us keep the Amazon River Turtles alive!
Annually we have about 10,000 newly hatched turtles for release!
