The Ecuadorian prosecutor’s office announced Monday that it is investigating an alleged hunt for giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands, a fragile ecosystem listed as a World Heritage Site. The prosecution is investigating “suspected hunting and killing of four giant tortoises in the wetland complex of the Galapagos National Park,” the prosecution said on Twitter.
The Ecuadorian unit specialized in crimes against the environment and nature (Uidmen) was in charge of collecting the testimonies of the agents of the national park and appointing the experts to carry out the necropsies of the turtles. The park management has filed a complaint for the death of the animals, the Ministry of the Environment reported on its WhatsApp channel.
Sentence of up to 3 years in prison
These four giant tortoises, whose species has not been specified by the ministry, would have been hunted in the wetlands of Isabela Island, located 1,000 km off the coast of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The hunting of wild animals is punishable by up to three years in prison in Ecuador.
In 2019, a man who rammed a turtle and damaged its shell was fined $11,000. That same year, another driver had to pay more than $15,000 for running over and killing an endemic Galapagos iguana.
With an area of 4,703 km2, Isabela Island is the largest in the archipelago, constituting 60% of the emerged territory. The Galapagos Archipelago (“turtles” in Spanish) is considered a biosphere reserve for its unique flora and fauna in the world. It was once home to 15 species of tortoises, three of which became extinct centuries ago, according to the Galapagos National Park.
In 2019, a tortoise of the species Chelonoidis phantastica was discovered on the island, more than a hundred years after its supposed extinction.
Source: BFM TV
