page_title: Mazunte
section_title: National Mexican Turtle Center
hierarchical_section_title: Mazunte / National Mexican Turtle Center
caption_attribution_description: English: Hawksbill turtle at the National Turtle center in Mazunte, Mexico
context_page_description: Mazunte is a small beach town on the Pacific coast in Oaxaca, Mexico. It is located 22 km southwest of San Pedro Pochutla on coastal Highway 200. Mazunte is located some 10 km to the west of Puerto Ángel and just about 1 km from San Agustinillo and 264 km south of the capital of Oaxaca. There are two etymologies for the name. Some sources state that “Mazunte” is derived from a Nahuatl phrase, “maxotetia” which means “please deposit eggs here.” However, older residents of the community state that it is from the word “mizontle, ” used by locals to refer to a crab species that used to be very abundant in the area.
  Mazunte is famous for sea turtles. Before the mid 20th century, it had nearly no human population, but that changed when a market for sea turtle meat and eggs developed. Due to the many turtles that come to Mazunte to lay eggs, by the 1970s, Mazunte was the center of sea turtle hunting in Mexico, with its own slaughterhouse. Concern over the declining number of sea turtles eventually led to an absolute ban on turtle meat and eggs in Mexico, and deprived most families in Mazunte of their main source of income.
context_section_description: The idea of promoting sea turtles as an ecotourism base began in the 1970s when the hunting of sea turtles in Mazunte and other nearby seaside communities was at its height. An organization to promote the idea was founded at that time, which became a small center in 1985, operated by the Instituto Nacional de la Pesca (National Fishing Institute) and named Daniel León de Guevara.
  The modern Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga (Mexican National Turtle Center) was founded by the federal government in 1991 after the sea turtle trade was completely banned in the country. The Centro Mexicano de la Tortuga is an aquarium and research center dedicated to turtles, especially sea turtles. The installation covers four hectares located in Mazunte right next to the beach, near where the sea turtle slaughterhouse used to be. The Center contains specimens of all marine turtles native to Mexico as well as six species of fresh water and two species of land turtles also found in the country. It contains tanks and other habitats in which a variety of turtle species can be seen. The buildings on the site are designed to be similar to those around it, both traditional and modern. Outdoor tanks hold turtle species of different ages and include both natural and artificial incubators for turtle eggs. The installation also contains a multipurpose room, gift shop and a cactus garden.  Research objectives include developing techniques to manage, increase and preserve the turtle species of the country as well as promoting knowledge and ecological tourism based on turtles. This facility receives 60,000 visitors a year.
caption: Hawksbill turtle in the aquarium of the Center
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