Representatives of the airport and the Galapagos National Park (PNG) discovered in a suitcase around 185 specimens of turtles, including ten dead, which were to be transported from the archipelago to the mainland, reported Sunday (March 28th). Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment.
“At #Baltra airport, 185 hatched turtles were detected in a suitcase which was being transferred to mainland Ecuador”the ministry said on Twitter.
#URGENT | Durante una inspección rutinaria entre @aerogalapagos y @parquegalapagos en el aeropuerto de #Baltra, se… https://t.co/39yfEXkY4I
Located 1,000 kilometers from the Ecuadorian coast, the Galapagos Islands have unique flora and fauna. The ministry specifies that the discovery took place “During a routine inspection” between Galapagos Airport and PNG and that police and prosecutors “Take action”, without giving more details.
“Wildlife crimes”
“The age of turtles does not exceed three months and their shell is extremely young”, the Galapagos airport said in a statement, which makes it difficult to locate the original location of these turtles, each species being different depending on their island of origin. They were wrapped in plastic bags, and ten of them did not survive, the statement said.
The Minister of the Environment, Marcelo Mata, denounced in a tweet “These crimes against the fauna and the natural heritage of Ecuadorians” and said he was convinced that these facts “Will be punished with all the rigor provided for by the regulations in force”. Illegal wildlife trafficking is a crime punishable by one to three years in prison, according to Ecuadorian law.
The archipelago, which served as a natural laboratory for the English scientist Charles Darwin for his theory on the evolution of species, takes its name from the giant tortoises that live there. The giant tortoises arrived three to four million years ago in this volcanic region of the Pacific.
Scientists believe that ocean currents dispersed the turtles on the islands, giving rise to fifteen different species – three of which are now officially extinct – each adapted to its own territory.
