Kemp's Ridley Turtle ( Lepidochelys kempi ) 



Status Report of the Kemp's Ridley Turtle (Rene 

 Marquez M.) 



Introduction 



Lepidochelys kempi is known in Spanish as tortuga lora, in 

 English as Kemp's ridley and in French as Tortue de Kemp's. 

 Morphologically, the adult can be identified by its smaller size: 

 50-72 cm carapace length and 30 to 50 kg total weight; its 

 carapace is flattened and semicircular in shape; the head is 

 small and its beak strong, similar in a way to that of parrots. 



Of all sea turtle species, together with the Australian 

 f latback (Natator depressa ) , the Kemp ' s ridley has a more 

 restricted geographic distribution. Kemp's ridley is distributed 

 throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the Gulf of 

 Mexico and North Atlantic. Both are monotypic species, with 

 little morphological variation, due to the isolation of their 

 populations. 



The evolution of the population of the Kemp's ridley has 

 been described in detail by many authors (Carr 1963; Hildebrand 

 1963; Pritchard and Marquez 1973; Marquez 1976a; Marquez et al. 

 1982) . All agree it is the most endangered of the sea turtle 

 species (Bjorndal 1982): from a population of 40,000 female 

 capable of nesting in one "arribada," as seen in 1947 (Carr 

 1963; Hildebrand 1963), the "arribadas" have diminished to about 

 one percent (between 250-350 congregated turtles nesting in one 

 day, in the most numerous "arribadas" that have taken place in 

 the last three years) . This rapid population decrease has been 

 attributed primarily to over-exploitation on the nesting beaches. 

 Nevertheless, as we shall see, this has not been the only cause, 

 but probably until 1965 the most significant. Even though egg 

 extraction from the nest was banned twenty-two years ago, the 

 population has not recovered, which implies that other elements 

 have intervened or are intervening in the non-stability of the 

 population. 



This sea turtle only reproduces in the Gulf of Mexico. 

 More than 95% of the adult females nest in only 25 km of beach 

 (Rancho Nuevo, State of Tamaulipas, Mexico) . Efficient control 

 exists throughout the nesting season through a national program, 

 and because recently with the participation of specialists from 

 Mexico and other countries, beach surveilance has increased and 

 annual observations and studies on nestings and hatching success 

 have been made. In the last ten years the population has stayed 

 at low levels, even though the presence of juveniles throughout 

 its geographic distribution allows us to believe in a possible 

 future recovery. Since 1966, egg exploitation on the beaches has 

 been controlled and hatchling releases have been constant 



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