Our objective is to slow the extermination process of the flora and fauna in this part of Panama by including members of the community in projects that teach the necessity of conservation, and enhance appreciation of the life around us. Protecting and assisting in the propagation of Sea Turtles. Stoping the illegal hunting and sales of endangered animals. Tigre Salvaje is a project focused on the conservation of our environment through education. 1
We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals that are in danger of extinction. 2
We conduct seminars for children, teenagers and adults. Environmental education is the only way to spread information about the importance of conserving our natural resources. This also contributes to, and complements, the civic values and morals of the community. Appreciation of the world around us starts with education. 3
A youth group from Puerto Armuelles We organize the cleaning of trash from the beaches and also in the town of Bea Vista. 4
We also sponsor seminars given by the Red Cross for emergency medical care, and we give free emergency ambulance service. Tigre Salvaje tries to enhance and enlarge the consciousness of our amazing biodiversity. 5
We are trying to save the remaining patches of forest, and connect them with reforested tree corridors. 6
PUNTA BURICA 45 YEARS AGO 7
PUNTA BURICA TODAY (2011) DEFORESTATION 8
Due to deforestation, sediment has killed all the coral around Punta Burica. The trees are cut to sell to the lumbermills, to create new pasture, and for building material. The last of the trees are near the creeks and are used as corridors by the remaining arboreal animals. (There are no terrestrial dwelling animals left alive here on Punta Burica.) There are laws protecting the trees within 10 meters of a creek, but now that there are no other trees, they, too, are being cut. 9
FOR FOOD FOR SALE FOR PETS There is no one here to enforce the environmental laws of Panama. 10
Delito contra la Vida Silvestre Articulo 405. Quien pesque, cace, mate, capture o extraiga recursos o especies de la vida silvestre, acuatica o terrestre en peligro de extincion, sera sancionado con prision de 2 a 4 años Ley 24 del 7 de junio 1995 Articulo 38. Se prohibe, en todo el territorio nacional, la cabtura, recoleccion, transporte y comercio de las especies silvestre. A creek poisoned for its freshwater shrimp, to be sold in the market. One of the last large Iguanas, shot and discarded by poachers. 11
The Red-backed Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri orstedii). Many people buy this animal to have as a pet, but nobody takes the time to learn that their diet is 85% insects. They are kept in cages or on strings and are feed only fruit. Diarrhea kills most of them in the first 3 months of captivity. The most common way to capture a baby monkey is to shoot the mother and take the baby from her back. In many cases both mother and baby are wounded, when this happens they are left to die in the forest, because there is no market for a wounded baby. porque no hay mercado para los animales heridos 12
A sign in the public market of Puerto Armuelles TURTLE BUTTER $5.00 a Bottle Fundamento legal: ley 24 de 7 junio de 1995 se prohíbe la captura y exportación de tortugas marinas en todo el territorio nacional. When laws are not enforced, they are worthless. 13
Conch Fundamento legal : decreto ejecutivo Nº 98 Del 17 de noviembre de 2009 Articulo 1: periodo de veda del caracol marino ( strombus spp.) por el termino de 5 años en las aguas jurisdiccionales de la Republica Panamá. Se encuentra prohibida su captura, posesión y comercialización Divers who hunt Conch to sell in Puerto Armuelles and litter the beaches with the sharp broken pieces of the shells. 14
Here it is a common practice to throw your trash in roadside ditches, creeks and rivers. Most of this garbage is plastic that ends up in the ocean where many fish, turtles, and other marine life think it is food, eat it, and die. When the body decomposes, the plastic is set free to be consumed by other marine life. This is the beach after a heavy rain. 15
This is Plastic from one week. Incubation project for turtle eggs 16
We collect eggs and place them in an incubator, always explaining and teaching. Volunteers 17
In the incubator we control the temperature in order to produce more females. We wait 45 to 60 days, depending on the species, then release the young turtles. We have released thousands of baby turtles in the past 5 years. We have a lot of competition -- some people collect eggs to eat, some to sell to the cantinas, hungry dogs hunt for the nests because their owners don t buy dog food and the dogs must hunt to survive. It is a challenge to get to the eggs before the hunters, the dogs, and even the pigs find them. BUT THE RESULTS ARE GRATIFYING 18
We invite the community to participate when we release the baby turtles. 19
Some of the newspaper and magazine articles about the work we do here at Tigre Salvaje. We work trying to save three species of sea turtles, Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) 20
Green, or Eastern Pacific Black (Chelonia mydas) Hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) 21
Unfortunately, we have used all of my retirement savings and do not have the funds to continue this project. We desperately need donations and volunteers. This presentation only explains a small part of the work that we do... Please help us, because In the end, we conserve only what we love, we love only what we understand, and we understand only what we have been taught. 22