Next time you visit the Academy’s rainforest exhibit, look carefully at the fallen tree under water in the flooded Amazon level – it’s a favorite hangout spot for our visiting Arrau turtle (a.k.a. Giant South American river turtle, Podocnemis expansa), currently on loan from the San Francisco Zoo. It weighs approximately 45 pounds, and its sex and age are unknown. Native to South America, this species has been over-harvested by humans and is now classified as Endangered by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. This particular turtle was confiscated in Miami more than 10 years ago, and now acts as an Amazonian ambassador of sorts, reminding us that we need well-informed conservation strategies in place to protect river turtles and the other threatened species who share its habitat.