Confiscation of 59 illegally transported big-headed turtles in Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - All of the above animals were captured and confiscated by the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Province Police from illegal transportation in Dien Chau district.
On April 5, the leader of Pu Mat National Park said that the unit had just coordinated with the Center for Wildlife Conservation in Vietnam (Save Vietnam's Wildlife - SVW) to rescue 59 big-headed turtles. All of the animals were captured and confiscated by the Environmental Police Department of Nghe An Province Police from illegal transportation in Dien Chau district.
Earlier, the police discovered a resident of Dien Hong commune transporting 34 big-headed turtles. Searching his house, the police discovered 25 more turtles, still alive, and some dead. In addition, they also discovered 3 Java pangolins with all their scales and organs removed.
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The confiscated turtles were handed over to the Pu Mat National Park Rescue Center in a weak condition. Photo: Thanh Tuan |
Immediately after that, all of the turtles were transferred to the Pu Mat National Park rescue center for rescue and care. These individuals are in very weak condition, many of them are injured, and are receiving intensive care at the Rescue Center.
Previously, on December 13, 2022, SVW coordinated with Pu Mat National Park to receive 68 big-headed turtles from Nghe An Provincial Police, bringing the total number of big-headed turtles that SVW is caring for and rehabilitating to 127.
According to Mr. Dang Thanh Tuan, a caretaker at the Pu Mat National Park Rescue Center, the care regimen for big-headed turtles takes a lot of time and manpower. Accordingly, these turtles are fed twice a day with fish, worms, and crabs, the amount of food is 3-5% of the turtle's body weight. On average, each time these 127 turtles eat about 3-4 kg of small fish. In addition, the turtles need to be sunbathed, and their shells and cages need to be cleaned regularly to prevent the turtles from getting skin ulcers and skin fungus.
It is expected that after collecting genetic samples and analyzing specimens to determine subspecies and screening individuals for infectious diseases, these turtles will be eligible for release into the wild.
The Big-headed Turtle is a turtle species widely distributed in streams flowing at an altitude of over 600m above sea level in evergreen forests from the North to the Central and Central Highlands. This turtle species is listed as critically endangered in the World Red Book due to over-exploitation and trade. If not prevented, this species will disappear in the near future.
This is the only turtle species in the Platysternidae family, and its disappearance would cause the disappearance of an entire family. The Platysternidae is strictly protected in Vietnamese law. It belongs to group IB in the strictly protected list in Decree 06/2019/ND-CP and is listed in the list of endangered, rare and precious wild animals that need protection in Decree 64/2019/ND-CP of the Government. Violations related to the Platysternidae will be severely punished by imprisonment.