‘In Isabela they are killing giant tortoises to eat their meat’; collect signatures to demand that authorities act for the death of 19 chelonians in Galapagos

“On Isabela Island, in the Galapagos, there are those who are killing giant tortoises to later consume their meat. I started this petition for the authorities to act immediately in the face of these atrocious events”, is the comment of Jenny Lucas, who began with a collection of signatures on the Change.org platform to demand that those guilty of the turtle killings that were carried out be found. they would have carried out on the island of the archipelago between 2021 and 2022.

In September 2021, park rangers from the Isabela Technical Unit (UTI), of the Galapagos National Park Directorate (DPNG), found the remains of fifteen giant tortoises killed in the La Gorra sector, a rural area east of the Sierra Negra volcano. , 16 kilometers from Puerto Villamil. These deaths would be due to the clandestine consumption of giant tortoise meat by a minority of the Elizabethan population.

At least 19 giant tortoises were slaughtered for human consumption in Isabela, Galapagos, between 2021 and 2022. Authorities are investigating complaints

Meanwhile, yesterday, August 29, the State Attorney General’s Office announced, via Twitter, that it had opened a preliminary investigation to investigate the facts related to the alleged hunting and slaughter of four giant land tortoises in the wetland complex also located in Isabela.

According to sources consulted by EL UNIVERSO, who preferred to omit their names, there would be at least seven official complaints about the slaughter of turtles in Isabela. Turtle meat, to mislead the authorities, is also mixed with pork or donkey meat. The consumption of turtles would only be taking place in Isabela, where meat is even offered at home.

Isabela’s tortoise population now adds another problem, since it has been affected by the introduction of invasive species and international trafficking. In 2018, more than a hundred baby tortoises were stolen from the Arnaldo Tupiza breeding center. (YO)