BOLIVIA
Crimes in the Riverbanks: Turtles Trafficked for Gastronomic Purposes
by Iván Paredes Tamayo
The Arrau turtle, South America’s largest turtle species, is endangered in Bolivia. Even so, in Camiaco, a community in the Bolivian Amazon, as many as three million of their eggs are trafficked each year. Another affected species is the river peta.
On the beaches of the Mamoré River, tiny lines reveal the dragging trail of a turtle crossing the hot sands to lay her eggs. They look like small perfect paths connecting the forest to the water. These lines are made by the turtles (Podocnemis expansa) as they crawl as fast as possible to reach the ideal place. They walk carrying the future of the Amazon in their bodies. They build a nest in the sand, lay their eggs, and move on. If they manage to return to the river, they may live a while longer, but many do not have that fortune.
For more than a decade, the criminal actions of humans have prevented this return journey. Not only that: it has also stopped new river turtles from hatching by stealing the eggs from their sandy nests. Traffickers kill the mother and the turtles that should have been born.
The nesting of a turtle is one of the most astonishing and striking natural events in the Amazon. The turtles gather to nest on Amazonian River beaches in a synchronized way. There are so many that it becomes difficult to count them. In some sections of the Mamoré River, more than 50,000 females gather in a single year to lay their eggs.
This phenomenon is not only remarkable but essential for the functioning of rivers, as turtles bring nutrients to river systems, and their eggs and hatchlings are a key part of the ecosystem’s food chain. The turtles are also important to the human communities that live along the river—not only because they form part of the region’s biological diversity and cultural identity, but also because they have historically been an important resource.
In the community of Camiaco, in the department of Beni, Bolivia, turtles are in high demand. Locals whisper that their eggs are a delicacy, as is their meat. They also take them from their habitat to use as pets.
In Camiaco, when people talk about turtles, there is fear. Although it is nesting season, people say little. They fear that police and departmental authorities from Beni will confiscate the eggs taken from the nests. Penal sanctions and fines are possible for anyone involved in trafficking this species.
Camiaco is a small, quiet town, but during nesting season—from August to December—it is known as one of the most intensive turtle-harvesting communities. It sits on the shores of the Mamoré River, one of Bolivia’s major Amazonian tributaries. It has earned the title of “predator” because in September it holds a well-known and highly criticized event: the peta fair, named after the local word for turtles. There they sell dishes made from turtles and river peta (Podocnemis unifilis) eggs, as well as the turtles’ meat.
On an October morning/afternoon, the Mamoré waters are calm. Two children play on an improvised dock with fish they caught from the river. The fish still struggle to live, flapping and jumping. The children just have fun. They say they also have turtles in their boat. They show them: two small river petas. The turtles are trapped in a plastic bag in extreme heat—nearly 40 degrees Celsius. The petas are about to die.
In Camiaco, trafficking turtles and river petas is an open secret. They do it without mercy. Taking these turtles from their habitat is normal for locals, especially during nesting season. “It’s an extra income during this time. We sell the eggs; that’s what sells the most,” says a fisherman.
On the banks of the Mamoré, there is a row of rustic fishermen’s boats. They use this season to collect turtles and their eggs. They place the turtles—still alive—in cardboard boxes, and the eggs in burlap sacks. On top of their precarious boats, there are also broken refrigerators used to keep fish on ice.
The night before, the fishermen had gone upriver to look for turtles. They knew they would find them. They dug into the nests and removed the eggs. Early in the morning, they sold them. Each egg costs one Boliviano—about 14 US cents. Intermediaries sell the same egg for twice the price. Sometimes the buyers are Brazilian citizens who take the eggs across the border. The same happens with the turtles. One single turtle can cost 150 Bolivianos—about 25 US dollars. Most of this merchandise is sold in Trinidad, the capital of Beni.
The turtle and the river peta belong to the family Podocnemididae and are the species that have received the most attention in terms of nest management in Bolivia, as maintaining and restoring their populations has become a state policy—one that has so far failed.
The species is the largest river turtle in South America. Females reach up to 107 centimeters from head to tail, and males up to 50. Their shell is relatively flat and wide, with brown, gray, or olive-green coloring. Adults have a plastron—the ventral shell area—ranging from yellowish to cream or brown.
The species has a broad head. Hatchlings are dark in color, with yellow spots and large central black speckles on the top of the head and around the ears. The turtle is primarily aquatic and active both day and night. It lives in large rivers, lakes, and flooded vegetation, in both white-water and black-water environments.
During the rainy season, it moves to floodplains and enters the forest to feed on fruits and seeds that fall into the water. In the dry season, it returns to riverbeds seeking sandy beaches that form in the mid and lower reaches for reproduction. It is considered a migratory species, typically traveling 60 to 100 kilometers per year, and in some cases up to 420.
Pamela Carvajal, a Bolivian biologist and member of the Bolivian Turtle Conservation Network (Spanish RCTB), explained to Revista Nómadas that turtles lay between 26 and 180 eggs, and that nesting may begin in August or September depending on the river’s hydrological cycle. Incubation takes about 45 to 70 days.
“The turtle nest has the shape of a boot,” Carvajal said. They are 60 to 80 centimeters deep and located on sandy beaches. The eggs are spherical, white, and measure between 36 and 49 millimeters in diameter.
Bolivian law prohibits the capture, collection, and handling of wildlife and their derived products. Articles 110 and 111 of Environmental Law 1333 establish penalties of up to three years in prison for anyone who captures or trades in wildlife species. Likewise, Article 223 of the Penal Code sets a prison sentence of up to six years for those who damage or destroy state property or national resources. In addition, Departmental Decree 03/2022, in its second article, establishes an annual ban on the capture and hunting of turtles and the collection of their eggs in Pando, from July 20 to December 31.
In Camiaco, the business does not end there. The town’s streets are unpaved. Several intermediaries arrive to collect eggs and live turtles, headed for the city of Trinidad, 596 kilometers from La Paz. In Trinidad, the capital of Beni, signs advertising turtle eggs—or dishes made from turtle meat—no longer appear. What does abound, however, are ads on social media, mainly Facebook
“Turtle and peta eggs have arrived.” That is what is offered during nesting season across social networks. Revista Nómadas contacted one seller, who offered eggs and promised to obtain a turtle with no difficulty. “I can get it, no problem,” he said.
Uncontrolled Sales
What happens online also happens in person. Martha sells “natural medicines” at the farmers’ market in Trinidad. She knows all the supposed benefits of these products. Among the plastic bottles you’ll find turtle oil and fat. “Turtle oil can be applied to the hair—it will make it look better. The fat is for the skin; it works like a cream,” she says.
In other communities in Beni, such as Versalles on the border with Brazil, Brazilian citizens cross illegally to steal eggs and turtles.
“The consumption of turtle meat and eggs is a major threat, not just to turtles but to other animals. People come to hunt, fish, and collect eggs illegally, mainly from Brazil, but also from Bolivian communities such as Remanso, Mategua, and Bellavista,” said Lola Salvatierra, a turtle expert and teacher in Versalles.
Most confiscated turtle species
* Source: Pamela Carvajal
Carola Vaca, former director of the Beni Biological Station Reserve and Bolivia’s first female park ranger, explains that there are issues with some Tsimane Indigenous community members—lowland people whose territories are frequently encroached upon. “In the dark of night, we used to go down at a certain hour to see if the petas had laid eggs,” Vaca says. “When we returned an hour later, the eggs from three or four nests had already been stolen. It was incredible. As we collected eggs to transfer them to the artificial beach, others were coming right behind us.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the turtle as “Vulnerable” and the river peta as “Lower Risk.” Bolivia’s Red Book of Vertebrates, produced by the Ministry of Environment and Water, categorizes river petasas “Vulnerable” and turtles as “Endangered.” Both assessments date back to 2008 and 2009.
According to the RCTB, 19 turtle species have been recorded in Bolivia: 16 native species and three exotic ones. Fifteen of the native species are threatened by habitat loss, climate change, consumption, egg and meat trade, use as pets, and trafficking of their parts for crafts. A conservation priority analysis identified three species that urgently need effective conservation action—one of them is the turtle.
Due to demand in European and Asian markets, hunting and collecting turtles became commercialized. At the end of the 18th century, during the dry season, thousands of people arrived in the Amazon and Orinoco basins to collect more than 100 million turtle eggs to produce oil. They also trapped nesting females. An estimated three to four million individuals were captured each year, according to the Red Book of Vertebrates, whose first chapter focuses on turtles.
Overexploitation caused local population collapse soon after European colonization. It is estimated that in the 18th century, two million Podocnemis turtles (river peta, tartaruga, or cupiso) were captured annually in the Amazon alone. Consumption has only increased since then. In the 1960s, 48 million turtle eggs were collected over a ten-year period in the upper Amazon and Madeira basins in Brazil.
Today, the most traded products are eggs, meat, and turtle oil, all produced through artisanal methods. Crafts made from turtle shells are also found in homes, restaurants, and markets across Beni. Until recently, the main market in Trinidad sold river peta and turtle eggs and dishes prepared with turtle eggs and meat.
The fat and oil obtained from these two species are also sold in various forms—small bottles and one-liter containers. Their shells and hides are mainly used for handicrafts. Shells are sold in craft shops and at the Indigenous Council in Trinidad, with prices varying according to size and decoration. In the Mocobi prison in Trinidad, turtle hides and even their heads were once used to make coin purses and belt buckles
The trafficking of eggs is extremely alarming. There are no official or recent figures, but according to police sources, between August and September 2021, 50,000 Podocnemis eggs were seized. That same year, the Bolivian Navy’s River Police seized 5,377 eggs in Trinidad. A year later, in the municipality of Puerto Siles—on the banks of the Mamoré—Brazilian boats were intercepted carrying 1,500 adult turtles and more than one million eggs.
In Camiaco, it is estimated that about three million eggs and a hundred adult turtles are traded annually, according to the Red Book of Vertebrates. In 2019, the Ministry of Environment recorded the illicit trade of 88,852 turtle eggs—a tiny figure compared to the scale of the market. In October 2023, the Environmental Police (POFOMA) in Beni reported the seizure of 6,000 eggs at the Tajibo checkpoint.
According to the Beni Governor’s Office, about one million turtle and river peta eggs are seized each year in that department alone. Millions more are trafficked domestically and abroad—mainly to Brazil. At least 200 turtles are confiscated yearly, although evidence suggests that thousands, if not tens of thousands, are sold illegally.
Trafficking of baby turtles for the pet trade is common. For example, at the Los Pozos market in Santa Cruz, 3,431 aquatic turtles were recorded for sale between 2005 and 2009—5.6% of all wildlife sold. Similar situations occur in markets across Bolivia’s major cities. The large number of turtles seized or voluntarily surrendered to custody centers further illustrates the scale of the problem.
Wildlife trade is no longer limited to physical marketplaces. Social media has become a major channel for selling wild species nationwide. The creation of exclusive groups dedicated to the sale of wild and exotic animals, combined with widespread ignorance of legal regulations, has opened new opportunities for trafficking and poses a serious threat to turtle populations.
“All this calls for an analysis and an update of the mechanisms regulating wildlife trade in our country, as well as greater attention to the use of social networks,” explained Enrique Domic-Rivadeneira, a Bolivian herpetologist with WCS Bolivia and contributor to the Red Book of Vertebrates.
He added that, compared with previous assessments, the turtle and the river peta remain in the same threat categories they held in 1996—Endangered and Vulnerable, respectively. However, no population studies currently exist for turtles in Bolivia.
The cases in Pando
On May 9, 2025, a box filled with river petas was found in a market in Cochabamba, in central Bolivia. It contained twelve turtles and at least one hundred eggs. Their destination was La Paz; from there, they were to be transported to Chile, according to POFOMA. Trafficking of this species—along with the turtle—has increased in recent years toward Brazil and Peru, where their meat and eggs are highly prized.
Pando is another region where turtles and river petas are found. The beaches of the Tahuamanu, Orthon, and Manuripi rivers provide ideal nesting sites due to their warm sands. There, turtles lay their eggs unaware of the danger: traffickers wait for this natural cycle to dig up the nests and smuggle the eggs to Peru or Brazil. They also hunt the adult turtles for their meat.
Denis Navarro Tuno, director of the Manuripi Amazonian Wildlife National Reserve, told Revista Nómadas that illegal trade begins in July, when turtles arrive on the beaches to nest. He noted that in the Manuripi region—a national protected area in Pando—conservation plans are in place to safeguard the species.
“Many initiatives are carried out to prevent this species from disappearing. For example, the Monitoring and Conservation Program for the River Peta aims to increase the chances of egg survival. During nesting season, petasleave the water to lay their eggs on the beaches, and the eggs are collected and placed in nests on an artificial beach, where they incubate for three months. The work focuses on conservation and repopulation,” Navarro Tuno said.
According to Homali Flores, departmental secretary of Integrated Management at the Pando Governor’s Office, traffickers transport turtle meat and eggs to major Bolivian cities and across the border into Peru and Brazil. They reach Peru through the northern border, arriving in Puerto Maldonado. Transporting turtles to Brazil is easier, since Cobija—the capital of Pando—borders the Brazilian towns of Brasiléia and Epitaciolândia.
“Smugglers face several imminent dangers, such as attacks from caimans and sicuris (anacondas), as well as constant pursuit by authorities. But they don’t stop at extracting a single peta nest—they plunder up to fifty nests at a time. Each nest contains between 30 and 35 eggs, and on the black market each egg can sell for up to five times the price of a chicken egg, around six Bolivianos, nearly one US dollar,” Flores said.
A 2024 investigation by the Environmental Information Network (RAI) found that peta hunters arrive at the Tahuamanu River in Pando, where they collect the eggs and then travel to Cachuelita, a remote community in the Pando Amazon. There they sell both turtles and eggs. Buyers pay up to 300 Brazilian reais per turtle, about 50 US dollars.
Federico Moreno, director of the Aquatic Resources Research Center (CIRA) at Beni’s Autonomous University, explained that the river peta is highly sensitive to environmental change and functions as a biological indicator of ecosystem variation. He noted that the species contributes substantially to aquatic biomass and nutrient cycles. “As a primarily frugivorous species, it enters flooded forests and becomes an important seed disperser in the Bolivian Amazon,” he said.
In Pando, turtle meat and eggs have various uses: eggs are consumed for their supposed aphrodisiac properties; oil extracted from turtle fat is applied to the skin and used to treat hemorrhoids; the meat is eaten in several dishes; shells are used as ornaments; eggs are used to make omelets and to prepare mushangué, a mixture of raw peta eggs beaten with sugar and milk.
Marco Greminger, a researcher at Beni’s Autonomous University, says that there is a lack of effective oversight and trained personnel to control wildlife trafficking. He criticized reductions in government budgets, which have enabled turtles to be extracted indiscriminately, especially in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando, northern La Paz, and Cochabamba.
Data from the Ministry of Environment and police operations highlight the magnitude of the problem: between 2000 and 2023, more than 23 million eggs and hundreds of live turtles were seized. “There is no trained or qualified personnel for enforcement. The environmental police do very little. There is no equipment for inspections. The central government, the governor’s office, and municipal governments do very little, and now, with the economic crisis the country is facing, budgets have been further reduced. All this allows both producers and intermediaries to traffic wildlife without restraint,” Greminger said.
When hatchlings are about to emerge, adult turtles gather near the beaches. From afar, they appear to form a protective shield. As the hatchlings emerge, the adults stir up the water near the shore so the tiny turtles can reach the river. Once in the water, they move toward deeper areas. The young turtles stay in the center while the larger ones surround them for protection. Then they migrate together. This natural spectacle is among the many things now at risk.
