Project helps ensure reptiles survival
IAN STALKER
Angelo Araujo is overseeing something of a reptilian maternity award.
Araujo works in Jau National Park in the Brazilian Amazon, where he’s helping to boost turtle numbers while reporting that 4 of the some 11 types of those aquatic creatures found in the massive park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — are at risk.
Warnings of declines in sea turtle numbers have been circulating for some time but less attention has been focused on their land-based counterparts.
September, October and November are nesting months for Jau turtles, with hatchlings starting to be born in November and December.
Araujo’s work includes delicately gathering turtle eggs from the wild and placing them in large, indoor containers filled with sand, replicating an ideal hatching environment. The containers are in a structure by the entrance to Jau, found about 200 kms from the city of Manaus and accessible by boat in the road-free area.
The turtle eggs are placed at a specific depth in the sand to increase the likelihood of successful births.
Only 1 or 2 of 100 turtles born in the wild may reach adulthood, whereas 70 to 75 of those born in the containers will, Araujo reports.
Volunteers can assist with the release of young turtles born under Araujo’s supervision into the wilderness.
“We fight to ensure that different species of Quetonians (turtles) are protected here and that they can procreate and have more guarantee of their survival,” a park sign advises arriving visitors.
Tour guide Josue Basilio of Amazon-based tour operator Katerre Expedition — which sends tourists to Jau — says many people are unaware of the challenges turtles often face and he welcomes the role tourism plays in highlighting those issues.
“This is good education,” he states. “Tourism helps a lot.”
Tourism authorities note that Jau is home to many other creatures, including dolphins, monkeys, manatees, sloths, jaguars and hundreds of species of birds.
More information is available at katerre.com/us/.
