Fundação Tartaruga – Cabo Verde (2023)

Sea turtle patrol dog Kilo has many fans! He not only protects nesting turtles but also raises awareness in the community. © Fundação Tartaruga

Fundação Tartaruga is a non-profit based in Cabo Verde that has been actively working to protect sea turtles and their habitats on the island of Boa Vista since 2008. The population of loggerheads that nest in Boa Vista is one of the largest in the world, but the turtles still face human-related threats including the illegal take of nesting turtles and their eggs.

To combat this threat specifically, Fundação Tartaruga has trained and implemented “detection dogs” like Kelo (pictured above), to find illegally harvested turtles and eggs. These patrol dogs keep busy even outside of turtle nesting season, though. During the off-season, the dogs visit local schools to raise awareness and inspire passion about sea turtles within the Boa Vista community as part of the project Using conservation dogs as ambassadors for sea turtle protection, which SWOT is proud to support.