3,427 trafficked baby turtles rescued in Mexico
3,427 trafficked baby turtles rescued in Mexico
Source: Popular Science
Wildlife trafficking of turtles, parrots, and more in Mexico—with most transactions conducted on social media—is threatening the country’s revered biodiversity. In Hispanic America as a whole, a 2024 report documented a total of 1,945 seizures and poaching incidents highlighted by media between 2017 and 2022, impacting at least 102,577 wild animals. The report includes two seizures in Mexico that rescued a total of 29,502 mud turtles and musk turtles in 2020.
Turtles are once again in Mexico’s limelight, after authorities announced the rescue of 3,427 freshwater turtle hatchlings at a checkpoint along the San Cristóbal-Chiapa de Corzo highway. The small reptiles were being transported in overcrowded cardboard boxes by a suspect authorities called “José ‘N.’”
“Security forces caught José ‘N’ in the act of illegally transporting more than 3,000 turtles commonly known as hicotea turtles,” reads a translated statement by the Federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa). “The specimens were being transported without documentation proving their legal origin, which constitutes a violation of current environmental regulations.”
Cont'd.
LINK:
https://www.popsci.com/environment/baby-turtles-rescued-mexico/