Species fact sheet by Global Register of Migratory Species - www.groms.de
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Lepidochelys kempii (Garman, 1880)
Synonym: Lepidochelys kempi
Family: Cheloniidae
Order: Testudines
English: Kemp's Ridley turtle
French: Tortue de Ridley
Spanish: Tortuga lora
German: Atlantische Bastarschildkröte (There's a German version of this page!)
Norwegian: Kemps Ridley skilpadde [?], Bastardhavskildpadde [?] (dansk) (There's a Norwegian version of this page!)
Migration: intraoceanic
Regions: [...]
CMS: App I & II
CITES: I
RL1996: CR
RL2000: CR

map about the distribution of Lepidochelys kempii 

“Kemp's Ridley turtle is closely related to L. olivacea, from which it can be differentiated by its grey carapace. Kemp's Ridley is restricted to the warm temperate zone of the North Atlantic. Fretey (1999) reviewed current bibliographic data as to the exact dividing line between their areas of occurence. L. kempii definitely has a more northern distribution and is mainly found in the Gulf of Mexico, but sometimes appears up to northern latitudes of 47 degrees. Occasionally, it goes south towards the Greater Antilles and the North of South America, while L. olivacea goes up to the West Indian Arc and the French West Indies, and regularly nests in Brazil and the Guyanas. These differences clearly emerge from the museum data shown on the map (Iverson 1992).
Hildebrand (1979, in Bjorndal 1995) sketches a conclusive scenario of Kemp's Ridley migration: from its nesting grounds in Rancho Nuevo, Tamaulipas (Mexico), subadults and adults move to the highly productive shrimp crab beds of Louisiana (March Island to Mississippi Delta, USA) and the Tabasco-Campeche area of Mexico. These data are based on tag returns and incidental capture by shrimp fishermen, and show that the species primarily migrates along shore rather than in the open Gulf. Efficient protection of a nesting population at South Padre Island, Texas, was achieved by implementing shrimping closures and Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) around the Florida Keys region (McDaniel et al. 2000). Due to these protective measures, the species recovered, but continues to be the most endangered turtle, classified as "Critically Endangered" (CR) by the recent international Red List (Hilton-Taylor 2000).”
Riede, K. (2001): Global Register of Migratory Species. Weltregister wandernder Tierarten. Münster (Landwirtschaftsverlag), p. 267

Further detailed information from the GROMS-database

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by Ansgar Tappenhölter