As part of conservation efforts, about 3,000 baby sea turtles native to the Amazon rainforest hatched from turtle eggs on artificial beaches on Thursday and released into a river in Peru, CNN reported.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers river turtles vulnerable and for years have been killed for human consumption or kept as pets.
Sabrina Pipa, a biologist working to protect freshwater turtles, said: "Protecting species in the area is crucial because it has been threatened for a long time."
The scientific name for this turtle is Podocnemis unifilis, but Peruvians call them taricayas. They have yellow spots and the cubs are only a few inches long.
Peru has the second largest Amazon rainforest after Brazil. Scientists agree that protecting the Amazon rainforest is critical to averting catastrophic climate change because of its ability to absorb greenhouse gases.
But over the past 20 years, more than 19,700 square kilometers (7,600 square miles) of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. Pippa said the taricaya project, which began in 2019, has protected about 6,000 river turtles in addition to the turtles protected this year.
People gather in the city of Iquitos and watch the baby turtles walk along the river beach towards the water. "Go! Towards happiness!" A bystander shouted.