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Conservación Y Tráfico De La Tortuga Matamata, Chelus Fimbriata

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Conservación Y Tráfico De La Tortuga Matamata, Chelus Fimbriata Lasso et al. Conservación y tráfico de la tortuga matamata, Chelus fimbriata (Schneider, 1783) en Colombia: un ejemplo del trabajo conjunto entre el Sistema Nacional Ambiental, ONG y academia Conservación y tráfico de la tortuga matamata, Chelus fimbriata (Schneider, 1783) en Colombia: un ejemplo del trabajo conjunto entre el Sistema Nacional Ambiental, ONG y academia Conservation and trafficking of the Matamata Turtle, Chelus fimbriata (Schneider, 1783) in Colombia: an example of joint efforts of the National Environmental System, one NGO, and academia Carlos A. Lasso, Fernando Trujillo, Monica A. Morales-Betancourt, Laura Amaya, Susana Caballero y Beiker Castañeda Resumen Se presentan los resultados de una iniciativa interinstitucional (Corpoamazonia, Corporinoquia, Instituto Humboldt, Universidad de Los Andes y Fundación Omacha), donde se verificó, con herramientas moleculares, que varios lotes de tortugas matamata (Chelus fimbriata) decomisadas en la ciudad de Leticia, departamento del Amazonas, Colombia, correspondían a ejemplares capturados en la Orinoquia y cuyo destino final era aparentemente Perú, como parte de una red de tráfico de fauna. Basados en este hallazgo, 2 corporaciones liberaron 400 individuos neonatos en el en el río Bita y la Reserva Natural Privada Bojonawi en el departamento del Vichada, Orinoquia colombiana. Se evidencia el tráfico de esta especie probablemente hacia Perú, donde la comercialización de tortugas es legal. Se recomienda el uso de protocolos de identificación genética para determinar y controlar la procedencia geográfica de tortugas decomisadas a futuro, como paso previo y necesario para su liberación. Palabras clave. Amazonas. Identificación molecular. Liberación de especies. Orinoquia. Tráfico de especies. Abstract We present the results of an interinstitutional initiative that verified the provenance of several groups of the Matamata Turtle (Chelus fimbriata), confiscated in the city of Leticia, department of Amazonas, Colombia, with molecular tools. The confiscated turtles corresponded to specimens captured in the Orinoquia region, and apparently were destined to Peru as part of a network of illegal trafficking. Based on this finding, two environmental corporations worked together and made possible the release of about 400 individuals in the Vichada department on the Bita River and the Bojonawi Nature Reserve (Orinoco River basin). It is therefore evident that this species is being trafficked towards Peru, where the commercialization of turtles is legal. We recommend the use of genetic identification protocols to identify and control the geographical origin of turtles that may be captured in the future as a necessary step that must precede their liberation. Keywords. Amazon Basin. Animal trade. Molecular identification. Orinoco Basin. Species liberation. BIOTA COLOMBIANA 19 (1) - 2018 147 DOI: 10.21068/c2018.v19n01a10 Lasso et al. Introducción La tortuga matamata, mata-matá o caripatúa, callirostris), la babilla (Caiman crocodilus) y la Chelus fimbriata (Schneider, 1783) es la especie iguana verde (Iguana iguana) (MADS, 2012). En de mayor tamaño de la familia Chelidae. Se este mismo estudio se menciona que el decomiso distribuye en la cuenca amazónica (Bolivia, de matamatas proviene del departamento Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela), del Meta. Esta especie de acuerdo con la en el Orinoco (Colombia, Venezuela), las información disponible en los últimos años y Guayanas (Guayana Francesa, Guyana, Surinam) basada principalmente en los decomisos de y en la isla de Trinidad. En Colombia ha sido Corpoamazonía (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018), registrada para los departamentos del Amazonas, parece mover volúmenes importantes de tráfico. Arauca, Caquetá, Casanare, Guainía, Guaviare, Meta, Putumayo, Vaupés y Vichada (Morales- Los decomisos de 2015 y 2016 realizados por Betancourt y Lasso, 2012). Recientemente, estu- Corpoamazonía correspondieron a tortugas in- dios genéticos han demostrado que existe una cautadas en Leticia, departamento del Amazonas. marcada diferenciación genética entre individuos En ambas circunstancias, las tortugas fueron de matamata de la cuenca del río Orinoco y los incautadas a personas que las transportaban en que se distribuyen en la cuenca del Amazonas, moto después de recogerlas en el aeropuerto. Las siendo consideradas como unidades de manejo tortugas estaban en cajas de cartón, hacinadas y diferenciales (Amaya et al., 2016). en muy mala condición. En la incautación de 2016 el transportador ilegal aseguró que los animales Esta especie está categorizada a nivel global y provenían del vuelo de Villavicencio (Meta), en la nacional como Preocupación Menor (LC). En cuenca del Orinoco. Colombia se justifica esta categoría porque es una especie con amplia distribución y abundante, Con estos antecedentes, el objeto del presente aunque es objeto de tráfico de neonatos y juve- artículo es presentar el reporte del proceso desde niles para la venta como mascotas (Morales- el decomiso de las tortugas hasta su liberación, Betancourt et al., 2015). Su consumo es de utilizando herramientas moleculares para subsistencia y ocasional por algunas comu- determinar el lugar de origen de las tortugas nidades indígenas, además de ser objeto de usos y las posibles áreas de liberación. También se medicinales (Morales-Betancourt y Lasso, 2012). muestra la necesidad del trabajo articulado entre Al ser una especie que no tiene categoría de las diferentes instituciones del Sistema Nacional amenaza a nivel global, el comercio internacional Ambiental de Colombia (Sina), las ONG y la no está regulado por la Convención sobre el Academia para atender estas situaciones. Comercio Internacional de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres-Cites, sino por la normativa de cada país. El comercio y tráfico Materiales y métodos de esta especie se sustenta en que es una de las tortugas más apetecidas a nivel internacional, Muestras como se observa en las ofertas de las redes Las tortugas matamata decomisadas fueron virtuales y páginas web. neonatos y en la mayoría de los casos los tortuguillos aún mostraban la cicatriz umbilical, Colombia es objeto de tráfico de especies, y en- los caparazones estaban blandos y presentaban tre 2005-2009 se decomisaron unos 224000 manchas negras en las cúspides de los escudos animales vivos, donde los reptiles fueron la clase costales, con plastrón de color rojizo. Las dominante. Dentro de estos, las especies más muestras genéticas se obtuvieron de los animales frecuentes fueron la tortuga hicotea (Trachemys que fallecieron (Figura 1). 148 BIOTA COLOMBIANA 19 (1) - 2018 Lasso et al. Conservación y tráfico de la tortuga matamata, Chelus fimbriata (Schneider, 1783) en Colombia: un ejemplo del trabajo conjunto entre el Sistema Nacional Ambiental, ONG y academia A B Figura 1. A) Lote de individuos decomisados que murieron. Se puede observar la cicatriz umbilical. B) Detalle vista dorsal de uno de los individuos. Fotos: Monica A. Morales-Betancourt. Estudio genético Toma de muestras. A un grupo de 30 individuos con el dispositivo Nanodrop 2000 (Thermo- decomisados en 2015 y 2016 se les tomó una Scientific). muestra de piel para realizar los análisis genéticos. Estos ejemplares correspondían a los individuos Algunos meses antes de realizar el primer que habían muerto y permanecían congelados decomiso, se inició la construcción de una base en las instalaciones de Corpoamazonía. A cada de datos genéticos para esta especie a partir de individuo se le cortó una de las carnosidades muestras provenientes de localidades conocidas o verrugas de la piel del cuello para obtener del Amazonas y Orinoco colombiano. Debido a una muestra de tejido de aproximadamente que no se han publicado estudios de genética 1cm3, el cual fue sumergido en etanol al 70 %, poblacional sobre esta especie, fue necesario y etiquetado con un código único asignado. diseñar primers específicos para amplificar dos Los tubos con cada una de las muestras fueron regiones del genoma mitocondrial. Para esto, se trasladados al Laboratorio de Ecología Molecular tomó como referencia el genoma mitocondrial de Vertebrados (LEMVA) de la Universidad completo de la especie, publicado en GenBank de Los Andes. Las colecciones de referencia se bajo el número de acceso HQ172156.1 (Wang et encuentran depositadas en el Banco de Tejidos al., 2012) y se diseñaron dos juegos de primers o del Instituto Humboldt y en el LEMVA. cebadores utilizando el software Primer3Plus (Untergasser et al., 2012). La especificidad de Extracción de ADN, reacciones de PCR y cada pareja de primers se verificó mediante la secuenciación. De las 30 muestras, 15 fueron herramienta Primer-BLAST de NCBI (Ye et al., analizadas en el 2015 y 15 en el 2016. Estas fueron 2012). procesadas en el laboratorio para extraer y purificar su ADN total por medio del kit comercial Una vez se diseñó y se comprobó la especifi- Invisorb® Spin Tissue Mini Kit (Stratec). Una vez cidad y el éxito en la amplificación utilizando hecho esto, se verificó la calidad de los productos los primers diseñados, se llevaron a cabo las por medio de electroforesis en geles de agarosa al reacciones de PCR en volúmenes de 32 uL con las 1 % y por cuantificación con espectrofotometría, siguientes concentraciones de reactivos: 2 uL de BIOTA COLOMBIANA 19 (1) - 2018 149 DOI: 10.21068/c2018.v19n01a10 Lasso et al. ADN genómico, buffer de reacción 1X, BSA 0,4 Liberación de individuos decomisados ug/uL, MgCl2 (Bioline) 5 mM, dNTP´s (Bioline) Una vez identificado el sitio de origen de los
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