The thieves were gone before dozens of children arrived several hours later to watch the turtle hatchlings scramble into the sea.
Thieves on donkeys stole newly deposited sea turtle eggs from their sandy nests on a southern Mexico beach several hours before a group of children arrived to watch a conservation program release 8,000 previously hatched baby turtles into the sea.- In the 2014 season, more than 1.1 million olive ridley sea turtles nested in Mexico, up from just under one million a year earlier, according to official figures.
- Members of the indigenous Chontal and Zapotec indigenous communities have historically sold and consumed sea turtle eggs, a practice banned since 1990. Poachers risk up to nine years in prison and a nearly $12,000 fine if caught grabbing eggs out of the sand nests.
- Joel Vazquez Rojas, mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, says humans are the turtles' top predators and the program is needed to protect the hatchlings.
- The baby turtles were earlier hatched at a sanctuary run by the Mexican Turtle Center conservation program and brought to the beach for the release.
- The thieves were gone before dozens of children arrived several hours later to watch the turtle hatchlings scramble into the sea.
- The men were seen scooping up the eggs early Thursday in Oaxaca state, but there were no authorities in sight.
Thieves on donkeys stole newly deposited sea turtle eggs from their sandy nests on a southern Mexico beach several hours before a group of children arrived to watch a conservation program release 8,000 previously hatched baby turtles into the sea.
The thieves were gone before dozens of children arrived several hours later to watch the turtle hatchlings scramble into the sea.
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