Conservationists battle to protect turtle eggs  from smugglers

Inhabitants of Isla Cañas, in the  Tonosí, district are battling to save thousands of turtle eggs that will be planted in the artificial nursery that they recently finished building.  

The nursery has  150 nests, with a capacity for 120 eggs each, the hatching of around 18 thousand embryos will be monitored and the conservation of five species of turtles that arrive on that island will be guaranteed … but the group carrying out the environmental project is lacking materials.

Augusto Villarreal,  of the Association of Aquaculture, Fishermen and Tourist Agro of the island, reported that they do not have the cartridges used to collect and transfer the eggs to the nursery. Villarreal said the litters have to be deposited in cartridges to maintain the good condition of the embryos.

Smuggling of turtle eggs is one of the activities that threaten the conservation of sea turtles