Bahia's countryside is very dry. When the drought time comes ,the animals and plants die because of the hot sun and the lack of rain ; the animals try hard to survive and find some food and water , but the weakest ones always perish.

Men fight to survive and keep what they have without losing their faith . Around 1951 I decided to save the red footed tortoises - Geochelone carbonaria. I was 10 years old and suffered from asthma, but there was a popular belief that the red footed tortoises could heal this health problem. So, every time I walked around the woods and found one of these animals, I took them home, avoiding their death because there was fire and this specie is not fast enough to get rid of the fire. What about asthma? I'm healed, but I can't explain it. From this day on I started to raise them. At the time I lived at Jenipapo Farm, my father's house.

Ever since, I started to love the animals I raised because they're very docile and easy to raise too. Fifty years have passed since the first animals, and during this time I was dedicate to give back part of the young to the nature. I was the first in this area and it gave me a large experience to produce excellent kinds. At present, these kinds are available to the people who like the red footed tortoise, like me. In association with IBAMA (Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis), a department of Brazilian's government in charge of preserving the fauna and flora. The business is done through Criadouro Comercial Santa Rita, in Baixa Grande county, Bahia - Brazil. At this farm, there is an Orchard with several kinds of fruits like bananas, guavas, caja and siriguela - Brazizlian typical fruits, not to mention palm trees and vegetables.

Nowadays I export the young to many other countries. They belong to the specie Geochelone carbonaria and in the future there will be some others from the specie Geochelone denticulata.

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