{"id":9525,"date":"2025-10-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?p=9525"},"modified":"2025-10-27T16:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T20:28:50","slug":"celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Happy Hicatee Awareness Month!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every October, we celebrate Hicatee Awareness Month with our partners in Belize, the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bfreebz.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Belize Foundation for Environmental Research and Education<\/span> (BFREE).<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cHicatee\u201d is the Belizean name for the <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/species\/central-american-river-turtle\/\">Central American River Turtle (<em>Dermatemys mawii<\/em>),<\/a><\/span><\/strong> a critically endangered species that we support through conservation initiatives such as habitat protection, field surveys, riverside community outreach, captive release, and a tri-national Conservation Action Plan. Every October, BFREE hosts educational opportunities in local schools, virtual webinars, and outreach events to raise awareness of the Hicatee and the plights it faces. In continuation of last year\u2019s theme, we are celebrating not just the Hicatee, but all nine freshwater and inland turtles of Belize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9535\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7-1-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7-1-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7-1-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7-1-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/7-1.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9531\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rachael-Harff-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rachael-Harff-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rachael-Harff-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rachael-Harff-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Rachael-Harff.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9529\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9528\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-3-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9528\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-3-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-3-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-3-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-3.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9532\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9532\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/6.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" data-id=\"9527\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-2-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9527\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-2-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-2-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-2-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/HB-2.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Want to get involved? You can print your very own Hicatee &amp; Friends coloring book and learn about the turtles of Belize! We\u2019ll be sharing about these species throughout Hicatee Awareness Month, and you can follow along at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons has-custom-font-size has-medium-font-size is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-a89b3969 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button has-custom-width wp-block-button__width-50 is-style-outline is-style-outline--2\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-text-align-center wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Updated-Hicatee-and-friends-coloring-book-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download for Free<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-2-1024x819.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-2-1024x819.png 1024w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-2-300x240.png 300w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-2-768x614.png 768w, https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2-2.png 1350w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Happy Hicatee Awareness Month! Every October, we celebrate Hicatee Awareness Month with our partners in Belize, the Belize Foundation for Environmental Research and Education (BFREE). The \u201cHicatee\u201d is the Belizean name for the Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii), a critically endangered species that we support through conservation initiatives such as habitat protection, field surveys, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9530,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Happy Hicatee Awareness Month! Every October, we celebrate Hicatee Awareness Month with our partners in Belize, the Belize Foundation for Environmental Research and Education (BFREE). The \u201cHicatee\u201d is the Belizean name for the Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii), a critically endangered species that we support through conservation initiatives such as habitat protection, field surveys, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Turtle Survival Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-01T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-27T20:28:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elena Duran\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elena Duran\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/\",\"name\":\"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-01T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-27T20:28:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png\",\"width\":1350,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/\",\"name\":\"Turtle Survival Alliance\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2\",\"name\":\"Elena Duran\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elena Duran\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance","og_description":"Happy Hicatee Awareness Month! Every October, we celebrate Hicatee Awareness Month with our partners in Belize, the Belize Foundation for Environmental Research and Education (BFREE). The \u201cHicatee\u201d is the Belizean name for the Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii), a critically endangered species that we support through conservation initiatives such as habitat protection, field surveys, [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/","og_site_name":"Turtle Survival Alliance","article_published_time":"2025-10-01T13:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-27T20:28:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1350,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Elena Duran","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elena Duran","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/","name":"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month - Turtle Survival Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png","datePublished":"2025-10-01T13:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-27T20:28:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Heather-Barrett.png","width":1350,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/celebrating-the-9th-annual-hicatee-awareness-month\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Celebrating the 9th Annual Hicatee Awareness Month"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/","name":"Turtle Survival Alliance","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9675e2a42afc358292addd545f8c4df2","name":"Elena Duran","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e1375a9fdfa943f144566db0a36b224a6f5c90d6baf902eb8d552ad1dcd9fa3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elena Duran"}}]}},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turtlesurvival.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}