Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

The Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the smallest and most populous sea turtle species world wide.

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While global populations are declining, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) reviewed the status of the Olive Ridley in September 2007, and downlisted its status from endangered to vunerable.

Recent global population declines largely reflect a crash of the eastern Pacific population. Three Mexican states, Guerro, Jalisco and Oaxaca, that border the Pacific Ocean in Southwestern Mexico, once hosted large, and now depleted rookeries.

Chacahua, Oaxaca: from 20,000 - 50,000 females in 1974 to 2,042 nests in 2001-2005.

Piedra de Tlalcoyunque, Guerrero: from 20,000 - 50,000 females in 1974 to 608 protected nests/yr in 1997.

Playon de Mismaloya, Jalisco: from 35,000 -100,000 females/yr in 1969-1970 to 2,328 protected nests 2001-2006.

The The Bio-economics of Sea Turtle Conservation and Use in Mexico examines the conflicts between local economic practices and Mexican state policies that contributed to the Olive Ridley population crash.