It’s an ancient and well-known saying, ‘The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.’ This is an assessment frequently made of well-meaning NGO’s, who attempt to help struggling ‘third world’ cultures by imposing Western-style values and solutions. Turns out, our assumptions also get in the way of our assistance to endangered animal species.

For instance, we generally think that turtles are neglectful mothers. Once the eggs are deposited on sandy beaches, it’s adios to the progeny. Thus, gathering the eggs and incubating them in the safety of a laboratory seems an obvious solution to counter the decimation resulting from natural predation, loss of habitat and illegal trade.
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