One day before a rescue action, Manadewa Juruna, the newest baby in Mïratu Village, in Paquiçamba Indigenous Territory, turned 1 month old. He was there, eyes still shut, while the little shelled babies were rescued, cared for by many and passed from one person to another, just like the Tracajas. His great-grandfather, Agostinho Juruna, 73, the community elder, hopes Manadewa will reencounter these Tracaja turtles once he is using his own legs to run across the scalding beaches of the Xingu River’s big bend.

Whether he will, however, is uncertain.

Belo Monte’s permanently-imposed drought has left the Tracaja turtles hungry and exposed to predatory fishing 12 months a year. In 2024, things grew worse with the extreme weather phenomenon impacting the entire Amazon. The disappearance of the branches that feed the mothers and shade their nests means they lay fewer eggs. Unprotected, they get hotter than they should, killing the babies before they hatch.

To prevent this species from going extinct, the Yudjá-Juruna have stopped eating Tracajas, a delicacy in their cuisine, and for nearly 10 years, from the time Belo Monte’s first turbine began to turn, they have shifted to fighting for the species’ conservation. On October 24, adults gathered Indigenous students at the Ester Juruna Municipal School to show them the importance of allying with the Tracaja turtle-people to ensure both peoples’ futures. At least 40 Tracaja turtle-babies were released into the water to begin a long trip in their fight for their lives. Little human eyes watched lovingly until they disappeared into the river.