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As turtles released on Mexican beach, thieves steal eggs

As turtles released on Mexican beach, thieves steal eggs | iNFOnews.ca
A girl places a baby turtle on waterside as baby sea turtles scramble towards the ocean at the El Morro Ayuta beach in San Pedro Huamelula, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Dozens of school children turned out for the turtle release, but only hours before they watched hatchlings scramble into the sea, men had been scooping up eggs laid by mature turtles earlier in the morning. (AP Photo/Luis Alberto Cruz)
Original Publication Date: November 17, 2016 7:31AM
Publication Updated: April 27, 2025 6:14AM

SAN PEDRO HUAMELULA, Mexico – 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 men were seen scooping up the eggs early Thursday in Oaxaca state, but there were no authorities in sight. The thieves were gone before dozens of children arrived several hours later to watch the turtle hatchlings scramble into the sea. 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.

Joel Vazquez Rojas, mayor of San Pedro Huamelula, says humans are the turtles’ top predators and the program is needed to protect the hatchlings.

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