The Cabildo de Tenerife has launched in the La Tahonilla Wildlife Recovery Center new facilities for the rehabilitation of turtles marine species recovered in the waters of the island and that, after the necessary clinical attention, are returned to their habitat. These new facilities are made up of several large saltwater tanks and a counter-current swimming channel that is used for the re-adaptation of the turtles before they are released back into the sea.
“In La Tahonilla we offer an alternative to recover specimens belonging to the island’s own fauna, it is a space dedicated to rehabilitating animals that have some type of accident, for example, there are many cases of turtles that arrive with problems derived from getting entangled in the sea in nets or nylon, or having consumed plastic and are treated in this center”, indicated the president of the Cabildo, Pedro Martín, in the presentation of these new facilities located in the Center on the Carretera de la Esperanza.
The island president added that the continuous improvement of this service also serves so that “through environmental education actions, the population of Tenerife is aware of the work that is done with wildlife and, in addition, to value what is important and diverse. of the insular fauna and flora.
Turtles in Tenerife
“The presence of plastics in the sea is one of the most common reasons for the entry of turtles in La Tahonilla”, pointed out the Councilor for Management of the Natural Environment of the Cabildo, Isabel García, for which, she said, “we have invested in these new pools to facilitate the recovery of sea turtles.
As a novelty, one of these pools has a countercurrent water circuit incorporated that will serve to improve the rehabilitation of some specimens that have lost some of their fins or have buoyancy problems”.
In the same way, along with the new facilities, the opening ceremony has presented three new murals made by the graphic artist Erik_Air based on the diversity and the species that are usually attended in the center, a painted surface of more than 400 meters squares in which a journey through the different levels of vegetation and habitats of the island is made.
The Fauna Recovery Center occupies two hectares of the 26 of the La Tahonilla farm, where the Cabildo also has the headquarters of one of the island’s nurseries and also of the island’s forest fire control and extinction teams. The Center constitutes an important tool for the conservation of wild fauna and for environmental education of insular biodiversity for the Island of Tenerife.
A service is active at the facilities 12 hours a day, 365 days a year, and approximately 1,500 animals a year are collected, plus 2,500 shearwaters in the campaign to raise the flight of this species.
