Estimate of Trade Traffic of Podocnemis (Testudines, Pedocnemididae) from the Middle Purus River, Amazonas, Brazil

– The trade traffic estimate was made by using real data from 2 years of seizures (2000 and 2001), combined with river stage-level data. Abufari Reserve is located about 600 km south of Manaus, where the largest stretch of the Amazonian floodplain is protected by a federal conservation unit. In the minds of the local people, the chelonian populations are still abundant and inexhaustible. However, records show that in 2000 and 2001, 3992 chelonians and 122 Podocnemis nets were confiscated, which represent only a small part of the total catch from this river. Consequently, these natural stocks could be decreasing because of trafficking by animal peddlers who invade the area and escape with animals to the detriment of the ecosystem and the local people. For hundreds of years, naturalists have described the extraordinary abundance of river chelonians, especially Podocnemis expansa (Schweigger 1812), which was a very common species at the end of the 19th century (SilvaCoutinho 1868). This species is threatened because of blatant exploration and the lack of conservation measures (Smith 1979). Bates (1863) estimated that, during the 19th century, approximately 48 million P. expansa eggs were removed annually from the middle Solim~ oes and Madeira Rivers. Today, there is scant occurrence of egg deposition by this species on beaches in most Amazonian rivers, although large populations still survive on the Purus River (Smith 1979). Nevertheless, chelonian eggs and adults are still important sources of protein and serve as currency in commerce for the local human population on most of the Amazonian rivers. (Cavalcanti 1999; Pezzuti and Vogt 1999; Soares 2000). A good example of continued abundance can be found on Abufari Beach of the Purus River, considered to be the last large egg-laying refuge for P. expansa in the state of Amazonas, where about 4000 females annually lay their eggs (A. Kemenes, direct obs.). However, the means required to protect this kind of phenomena is a considerable challenge. Because of predacity abetted by the adults and eggs linked to the demand for these items, combined with the poverty of riverside populations only increases the danger of extinction en masse. According to reports from the oldest fishermen, the Purus River has historically been a river of intense and continuous exploration of mainly chelonians and alligators. Its floodplain lakes and immense flooded area form an extended aquatic labyrinth, parallel to the Purus River and the Solim~ oes River, uniting the local centers of commerce with consumers and middlemen in the cities of Manacapuru, Tapauá, and Manaus. The illegal trade of wild fauna species in these cities has become normal. For many riverine families, it is the only means of survival. Various kinds of wild animal meat and live chelonians are commonly available at municipal markets and sometimes even in other public places in these interior cities of Amazonas State. The Amazonian floodplain is a complex aquatic system that has become one of the main areas of operation of well-organized animal smugglers in Amazonas State. The Abufari Reserve, which was once erroneously considered by the riverside people as an inexhaustible NOTES AND FIELD REPORTS 259