Tulum, Q.R. — Stolen sea turtle eggs from a Tulum beach have been relocated to a new nest. On Friday, National Guard patrolling a Tulum beach saw a man at a distance carrying a bag.
When the man noticed the uniformed National Guard officers, he dropped the bag and ran. The officers opened the tossed bag to find it full of sea turtle eggs. Personnel from the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp) and the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), instructed them to take the eggs to the Jaguar National Park.
There, the eggs were safely returned to the sand in a new nest. The eggs stolen are believed to be green sea turtle eggs. In their statement, the Guardia Nacional said it was not possible to catch the man who had tossed the bag of stolen eggs.
“In compliance with the National Public Security Strategy of the federal government, in the state of Quintana Roo, members of the National Guard recovered sea turtle eggs, which were handed over to environmental authorities for their return to nests under custody.
“While carrying out security, surveillance and crime prevention patrols in the municipality of Tulum, National Guard officers saw a man from a distance who, upon noticing the presence of the officials, threw a bundle he was carrying in his hands and fled, but it was not possible to catch him.
“The officers approached and identified the abandoned package as a white bag containing turtle eggs. They contacted personnel from the National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Conanp) and the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), who instructed them to take them to the Jaguar Park.
“Upon arrival, personnel from Conanp inspected the contents of the bag and indicated that, based on the characteristics of the eggs, they could be hatchlings of the Chelonia mydas species, commonly known as the green sea turtle, which is in danger of extinction, according to the Mexican Official Standard NOM-059-Semarnat-2010.”
National Guard did not say how many stolen eggs were in the bag, but did say that they were placed in nests located in a turtle camp on one of the beaches within the Jaguar National Park in order to protect them until they hatch for the correct conservation of the species.
