When we were navigating to Manzanillo, I noticed I had marked a location on Google Maps - Tortugario Ecologico, just south of Manzanillo. We had time, so we decided to stop and see what it was. It appears to be a combination of public displays, conservation, and research. The main subjects are sea turtles, american crocodiles, and green iguanas, as well as the lagoon and mangroves themselves.
Some of the turtles appeared injured. Possibly all of them were rescued? They might have been raising some of the juveniles to a larger size to have a better chance of surviving after release.
It's nice to be able to look at them close up. When we see turtles scuba diving, they're generally disappearing into the distance. Or at the least swimming around.
We only saw one juvenile crocodile. I love the eyes!
Humorously, a lizard (whiptail?) ran by the baby crocodile while I was taking photos.
There were also a couple of adult crocodiles. I get a kick out of their crooked teeth, and their lumpy skin. That juvenile has some growing to do!
There were some captive adult iguanas. Apparently they catch the females when they are likely to be carrying eggs. Then they can recover the eggs after they are laid, and raise the baby iguanas to a bigger size before releasing them. The helps their survival rate since the young are the most vulnerable.
After wandering the exhibits, we found a boardwalk through the mangroves. Shelley managed to spot a wild juvenile iguana (maybe one of the ones they released?). They are such a bright green they don't seem very well camouflaged against the dead brown leaves. Presumably they would blend in better in the foliage.
The center isn't anything fancy, but if you're in the area and you enjoy this kind of thing, I'd recommend it.
See all 18 photos in this batch
Some of the turtles appeared injured. Possibly all of them were rescued? They might have been raising some of the juveniles to a larger size to have a better chance of surviving after release.
It's nice to be able to look at them close up. When we see turtles scuba diving, they're generally disappearing into the distance. Or at the least swimming around.
We only saw one juvenile crocodile. I love the eyes!
Humorously, a lizard (whiptail?) ran by the baby crocodile while I was taking photos.
There were also a couple of adult crocodiles. I get a kick out of their crooked teeth, and their lumpy skin. That juvenile has some growing to do!
There were some captive adult iguanas. Apparently they catch the females when they are likely to be carrying eggs. Then they can recover the eggs after they are laid, and raise the baby iguanas to a bigger size before releasing them. The helps their survival rate since the young are the most vulnerable.
After wandering the exhibits, we found a boardwalk through the mangroves. Shelley managed to spot a wild juvenile iguana (maybe one of the ones they released?). They are such a bright green they don't seem very well camouflaged against the dead brown leaves. Presumably they would blend in better in the foliage.
The center isn't anything fancy, but if you're in the area and you enjoy this kind of thing, I'd recommend it.
See all 18 photos in this batch
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