Wednesday, November 12, 2008
South Floridians help turtle after attack
MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Fla. (WSVN) -- South Florida vets are giving some much needed aid to a sea turtle injured in the Caribbean.
The sea creature, named Sandy, was attacked by wild dogs a month ago in Saint Croix, near the Virgin Islands.
United States Fish and Wildlife officials flew the 170-pound turtle into Miami, so she could go to a special turtle hospital in Marathon.
Once there, vets will amputate her front flipper before letting her recover to be released back into the wild. "She's a critically endangered species. She's an adult female that is mature for nesting," said Micah Rogers of the Marathon Turtle Hospital. "We need to get her back out to the wild, so that she can continue reproducing for her species because they are at such low numbers that every single female counts."
Although she is in bad shape, hospital officials said a single-amputee turtle can learn to compensate for their physical challenges and survive in the wild.
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