- "The worst thing is that they kill them with machete
blows... The turtles take a long time to die. It can take two hours and
as they are being cut open they are crying and whining, even moving their
flippers about."
-
- SAN VALENTIN BEACH, Mexico
(Reuters) -- Carcasses of hundreds of endangered sea turtles, bludgeoned
and carved open by poachers, litter the virgin beach of San Valentin on
Mexico's Pacific coast.
-
- Volunteers at a remote turtle protection camp here, 215km
north of the popular tourist resort of Acapulco, say most of the animals
died in a massacre over the past few months' nesting season as poachers
sought turtle meat and eggs which are sold illegally in big cities as a
delicacy.
-
- The killing spree was on a larger scale than poachers
usually risk and outraged environmentalists. The turtle protectors, who
collect and safeguard the creatures' eggs, blame poverty in the region
and a lack of patrols by environmental authorities.
-
- More than 100 turtle heads grimace above empty shells
on an 800-metre section of the beach, six kilometres from the camp, which
is perched on a spit of sand between a coconut palm-lined lagoon and the
ocean.
-
- "The worst thing is that they kill them with machete
blows," said Raul Lopez, head of the San Valentin turtle protection
camp, pointing to several smashed-in turtle skulls.
-
- It's not a swift, merciful death.
-
- "The turtles take a long time to die. It can take
two hours and as they are being cut open they are crying and whining, even
moving their flippers about," said Medardo Navarrete, who like many
of the other 21 camp workers, is a former poacher turned protector, converted
by the government.
-
- The sale of turtle meat and eggs has been banned in Mexico
since 1990, but the threat of up to nine years in prison has not been enough
to deter poachers.
-
- Mexico's environmental watchdog Profepa has just 300
agents to protect the country's rich wildlife and relies heavily on back-up
from the army, navy and federal and state police.
-
- But in unruly Guerrero state, renowned for political
unrest and drug trafficking, the security forces have limited resources
for saving turtles.
-
- The conservationists frequently encounter gun-toting
poachers on their patrols but are powerless to stop the killings and afraid
of reprisals if they speak out.
-
- Working quickly in the dead of night, the poachers flip
the lumbering creatures onto their backs, cut open their bellies, and remove
the flippers, eggs and intestines. Food stalls sell the eggs and meat,
which are prized as a delicacy, to trusted clients while the skin is used
for exotic boots, belts and purses.
-
- Most of the victims are Olive Ridley turtles, of which
the environment ministry estimates 3,000 females nest annually in Mexico,
but this massacre also claimed two rare Leatherback turtles, of which just
50 females are believed to come to Mexican shores to nest every year.
-
- Many of the San Valentin camp workers were persuaded
in 1999 by environment ministry officials to protect the turtles.
-
- They now collect the eggs which the turtles deposit mainly
between June and January, rebury them in protected pens and release them
into the sea when they hatch.
-
- The San Valentin camp, consisting of a cluster of open-sided
huts hung with hammocks, is reachable only by four-wheel drive vehicle
or by boat up a crocodile-infested, jungle lagoon from the town of Petatlan.
-
- The environment ministry runs 27 official turtle protection
camps in Mexico. This camp is one of 120 more set up nationwide by civic
groups and hotels.
-
- Mexico's seven turtle species are protected under the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES).
-
- Locals living on the coast have long eaten turtle eggs,
believing them to have aphrodisiac powers, even though experts say all
they contain is a lot of cholesterol.
-
- "It was a custom for many years to go to the beach
and pick up eggs," Javier Rodriguez, mayor of Petatlan municipality
responsible for San Valentin, told Reuters in an interview.
-
- Turtle eggs sell for up to 15 pesos (about R10) each.
Still more lucrative for poachers is the Leatherback whose breast yields
up to 22 litres of oil which goes for at least 100 pesos a quart as a supposed
cure for asthma and bronchitis.
-
- Petatlan is investing 1.5 million pesos (R945,000) to
pay for 12 mounted police to patrol the 60km of beaches that come under
its remit.
-
- In the meantime, convoys of state police are doing twice-daily
rounds of the beaches.
-
- Humans are the biggest threat to Mexico's turtles, but
baby turtles and eggs are also hunted by birds, dogs, crabs and sharks.
On average, out of 10,000 that hatch, just 0.02 to 0.2 percent of turtles
reach adulthood, environment experts say.
-
- Turtle lovers remain undaunted. The volunteers at San
Valentin hope this year to collect 40,000 eggs compared with 22,000 last
year, just half of which hatched.
-
- "We got so excited to see the newly hatched turtles
jump into the sea. It moves your heart," said volunteer Mario Espinosa.
-
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