ISRAEL: Sea turtle speeds toward recovery at an Israeli rescue center after undergoing a rare surgery

Record ID: 395763

  • Title: ISRAEL: Sea turtle speeds toward recovery at an Israeli rescue center after undergoing a rare surgery
  • Date: 15th March 2008
  • Summary: YANIV LEVY, CO-ORDINATOR OF THE SEA TURTLE PROJECT IN ISRAEL, LEANING AGAINST A ROCK AT WATERFRONT (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANIV LEVY, CO-ORDINATOR OF THE SEA TURTLE PROJECT IN ISRAEL, SAYING: "He got entangled in a fishing line. He got one front fin amputated completely, and the other was half-amputated. Because of the importance of the front fins that are for movement, it
  • Embargoed: 30th March 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Environment / Natural World
  • Reuters ID: LVACS6YSCP20335SY4IR8M5UQ10E
  • Story Text: If sea turtles count their blessings, this one should be thankful he washed up in the holy land.

    "Tchompy" (CHOM-PEE), as he's been named by his handlers, is a loggerhead sea turtle. He was found high, dry and in deep trouble on an Israeli beach in February.
    After being discovered, the turtle was rushed to the Israel Turtle Rescue Center, a division of the country's Nature and Parks Authority.
    Tchompy was chewed up. Yaniv Levy, the co-ordinator of the Sea Turtle Project at the center explains.

    "He got entangled in a fishing line. He got one front fin amputated completely, and the other was half-amputated. Because of the importance of the front fins that are for movement, it was very important to try and revive that fin," Levy said.
    But saving the fin required extraordinary measures. Veterinarians decided to install a metal plate and screws, along with pieces of bone and shell from another part of the turtle's body into Tchompy's appendage. It was the first time this type of surgery had been performed in Israel.
    The operation took place on February 22nd. And today, Tchompy is doing... swimmingly.

    "He's improving himself in an excellent way. He's eating by himself. He's strong. He's fighting back. It's better than normal for what we get from turtles after surgery," Levy said Monday (March 10).
    The surgery to save the turtle's fin was critical. Tchompy is approximately 15 years old, according to Levy. And with an estimated life-span of 70-100 years, Tchompy would have had to spend the rest of his life in captivity if both his front fins were amputated, Levy said.
    But with one front fin, he has a chance to return to his natural habitat in the Mediterranean Sea.

    "If everything goes well, I hope that in the summer we will be able to release him. After that he will - you know, we'll have to do a bit of physiotherapy and training, and let him swim a bit, and he'll be back to the wild. That's the goal," Levy said.
    The Israel Turtle Rescue Center treats approximately 50 sea turtles a year. Levy says most are injured due to encounters with boats, propellors, jet skis, fishing lines, and hooks . About 70 percent of all the turtles rescued are later released.
    The center also runs a green sea turtle propagation project to promote the growth of the green sea turtles in the Mediterranean.
    Both the loggerhead and green sea turtles are on the 2007 Red List of Threatened Species, provided by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).
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