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Costa Rica Resource Pack

Costa Rica is the jewel of Central America. Home to million-year-old undisturbed rainforests, sunbathed pacific beaches, and volcanoes that pierce milk-thick dawn mists that gather on the countries mountainous spine. Equal to the natural beauty is Costa Rica's standing as one of Latin Americas oldest and most consolidated democracies. The political neutrality of Costa Rica amongst a region of turbulent politics has attracted many prestigious human rights organizations to have this paradise as their headquarters. Because of this a population of around 4 million get live in this amazing peaceful paradise that has justifiably earned its reputation as the jewel of Central America. However in the midst of this haven, few are taking liberties from Costa Rica's pristine environment, by poaching and threatening the existence of the Leatherback and Olive Ridley Turtle.

The Leatherback Turtle is not a turtle as we know it. An ancient massive marine reptile would be a more fitting description. The Leatherback is the biggest marine turtle in the world, weighing as much as 1,900 pounds and reaching nine feet long, and with an ability to auto regulate their body temperature a mechanism also used by dinosaurs, means these massive turtles can be found from anywhere from the tropics to the poles. Their name indicative of their backs, which is actually not ashell but pliable thick leather like skin.

The leather back turtle has survived for a hundred million years, but these massive ancient mammals are now facing extinction. Like most marine turtles leatherbacks are threatened by illegal poaching of their eggs, disturbance of nesting, and incidental death due to being caught in the nets of fishing vessels and trawlers. Litter in the ocean is mistaken by Leatherbacks as jellyfish which they feed on, and the ingestion of this leads to a long and painful death.

In the last ten years the Leatherback population has diminished drastically, there are now as few as 2,300 adult females, making the Pacific Leatherback claim to the fact as the worlds most endangered marine turtle.Volunteers will be working with the unique leatherback turtles in order to keep them alive for another hundred million years and only claim to the fact of being the biggest marine turtle not the most endangered.

Named after its olive green carapace, the Olive Ridley Turtle romantically nests in sync with lunar cycles and its eggs are believed to have aphrodisiac properties. However as romantic as this may sound, the reality that these small turtles are in sharp decline is not so romantic.

The Olive Ridley (or 'Lora' or Carpintera( is the smallest of its species weighing in at 75 pounds and measuring only 2 feet. These small turtles nest en mass on the Costa Rican coast following a lunar cycle of 28 days.

Olive Ridley populations are in sharp decline, thanks to a depressingly familiar list of causes; the over harvesting of eggs, beach development, fishing, pollution, and being killed for their meat and leather. The belief that their eggs have aphrodisiac properties leads to massive unsustainable illegal harvesting of eggs. Hurricane Pauline destroyed nearly half a million nests, the equivalent of 40 million eggs and 10 million hatchlings.

The demand for Olive Ridley eggs is not ceasing, and a species already under intense threat from natural disasters can not afford to be hampered by preventable human threats.

Easy Facts

For the Costa Rica Easy Facts sheet, click here.

Articles

Rescuing Turtles in Costa Rica : http://www.volunteer.org.nz/press/articles/costarica.php.

Further Reading

Leatherback Sea Turtle Mating Filmed for First Time, John Pickrell, National Geographic News, February 12, 2004: This story is one of a series looking at National Geographic Crittercam research. Crittercam is a research instrument worn by wild animals and equipped with a video camera and other information-gathering equipment.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_leatherbackcam.html

Leatherback Turtles Near Extinction, Experts Say, John Roach, National Geographic News February 24, 2003: They are the longest-living marine species to ever ply the world's oceans. They survived catastrophic asteroid impacts and outlived the dinosaurs. But the leatherback sea turtle, the largest turtle in the world, is on the brink of extinction, and scientists question whether the animal will survive into the next decade.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0224_030224_seaturtles_2.html

Country Profile

For Costa Rica's country profile, click here.

Mt Everest Trek 2008
Between 29 September and 18 October 2008, GVN is offering a hike to fundraise for the support of 13 children living in the Brighter Future Children's Home in Nepal.  > Read More