News & Events

Study Says Conservation Efforts for the Giant South American River Turtle Have Protected 147,000 Females

Rick Hudson, President of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), believes that interest in protecting the charapa in South America comes at an opportune moment, as there are still robust populations of river turtles to protect; this is not the case in Asia, where many of turtle species have gone extinct.

Hudson said: “The lesson is clear: protect the habitat and large nesting aggregations of river turtles now and avoid crisis management in the future. This paper makes a strong case for improving levels of protection while there is still time.” Read more from the Wildlife Conservation Society Newsroom HERE and from the Oryx Journal HERE.

Photo: Charapa (Podocnemis expansa) turtles sunning (CREDIT: Mauricio “Pato” Salcedo, WCS).