Real Life Hero to Endagered Turtles

Giant Leatherbacked Turtles are Making a ComebackYou've heard of the crazy cat ladies, but have you heard of the "Crazy Turtle Lady"?  She's not so crazy afterall, and is a real-life hero to the Giant Leatherback Turtles in her native Trinidad. 

In the 80's, approximately a third of the "turtles nesting on Mautura Beach were killed" because of the value they had on the black market. When her government asked for help, Suzan Baptiste stepped up to get the job done and initiated a patrolling campaign to stop the poachers. To give you some context of the situation, the poachers in Trinidad are not your every day average out-of-season hunters as we have here in the US- they are extremely protective of their right to poach and often carry machetes as a means of warding off the "patrollers", who try to prevent the poaching.

Suzan had another idea to help the patrollers-she decided to get eco-tourists to visit Mautura beach to see the turtles, which are endangered. It definitely made a difference. The local economy, which had been almost totally dependent on poaching for its business, became instead dependent on eco-tourism. At this point in time, there are virtually no Giant Leatherback Turtles being killed.

The beach now gets approximately 10,000 visitors a year, which is no small feat for the area. Most of the visitors are local.

Suzan doesn't seem to mind her reputation for craziness a bit: "I love being crazy, you know?" she said, laughing.