• Submitted by: admin
• Destinations
• 09 / 26 / 2006

The 62.75 mile-long natural reservation (extends from Remates Swamp to Cabo de San Antonio)is one of six such parks in Cuba.

It hosts all seven species of chelonians existing in the world, all beneficiaries of a protection program for endangered species.

Jesus Ramos, a native and guard in Guanahacabibes, says he knows almost everything about these species. He said the closed season runs from May to September, along which they can lay up to 500 eggs.

He added that they need sandy places to lay egg almost 1.64 feet deep, like La Barca, el Holandes, Perjuicio and Antonio beaches.

Before Cuba enforced the protection programn, the eggs were at the mercy of predators, so survival just rated five percent but losses dropped to the minimum after newborns are taken to breeding tanks until reaching a certain size and are able to survive on their own.

Source: Prensa Latina