Guardacostas aprehende a dos sospechosos de cazar una tortuga verde para extraerle carne y huevos. #SomosACRnet •

Pacuare bar, Siquirres, Limón.
• Suspects were placed under the order of the Siquirres Prosecutor’s Office and are exposed to sentences of up to three years in prison.

• They could be prosecuted for violating the Law for the Protection, Conservation and Recovery of Sea Turtle Populations.

• The green turtle is an endangered species.

As part of the efforts carried out by the National Coast Guard Service, in order to prevent and combat the killing of sea turtles in the province of Limón, two suspects were apprehended on Thursday with the remains of a green turtle, as well as 61 eggs .

According to what was reported by Commander Lady Martínez, director officer of the Coast Guard Station of Barra del Pacuare, canton of Siquirres, the subjects were captured during a patrol carried out on Pacuare Norte beach.

In that place, the coastguards spotted two men carrying 26 kilos of green turtle meat, as well as 61 belly eggs, that is, they were extracted directly from the animal, because sometimes the so-called “egg makers” do not wait for the turtles to spawn. , but when they are still alive, they proceed to break their belly to remove their eggs.

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The subjects, who were identified as two Costa Ricans with the surnames Román and Godoy, who, in addition to the aforementioned by-products of a sea turtle, also carried a dagger and a machete, white weapons with which they allegedly killed the reptile.

Upon requesting the functional direction from the prosecutor on duty in Siquirres, he ordered the arrest of the two subjects, as well as proceed with the confiscation of the knives, meat and eggs.

Eggs could not be rescued to give new lives.

The coastguard tried to rescue the eggs so that they could be relocated to a hatchery so that they could give life to new hatchlings, but this was not possible given the deplorable state of the eggs, which had to be discarded along with the meat.

The Wildlife Conservation Law, No. 7317 in article 93, contemplates sentences of 1 to 3 years in prison for those who hunt wild fauna in danger of extinction or with reduced populations.

Similarly, the Law for the Protection, Conservation and Recovery of Sea Turtle Populations No. 8325 establishes sentences of 1 to 3 years in prison for anyone who kills, hunts, captures, butchers, transfers or trades sea turtles.

The National Coast Guard Service and the Ministry of Security thank citizens for reporting any environmental crime, especially the extraction and sale of sea turtle by-products, by calling 9-1-1.

These reptiles spawn on the Caribbean coast between June and October, so the coast guards have to redouble their efforts during this period to prevent them from being attacked by hunters.

According to data from the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) in Costa Rica, more than 400 species, including the green turtle, are threatened due to various human activities, including hunting, trafficking and the use of wild animals as pets. , the fragmentation of ecosystems, urban development without planning and forest fires, among other factors that are destroying wildlife.