Cambodian Turtle Rescued in Vietnam

[nogerorob]

Hey Richard and Jen,

I thought you might get a kick out of this:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/07 ... index.html

Here's an excerpt:
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- They're calling him "the lucky royal turtle" -- a rare and endangered reptile that was saved from a likely fate in a Chinese soup pot by keen-eyed wildlife officers and a microchip.

Poachers snatched the animal, a species called "Royal Turtle" in Cambodia because its eggs were once fed to kings, from a Cambodian river two months ago and toted it across the Vietnamese border on a motorbike with a stash of other, more common, turtles.

Conservationists said that at 33 pounds, the animal was sure to have fetched a good price when it reached the smuggler's destination: The food markets of China, where turtle meat is a delicacy often made into soup.

A raid on the smuggler's house in southern Vietnam's Tay Ninh province was the turtle's first stroke of good luck. About 30 turtles were confiscated and transported to a wildlife inspection center, where workers noticed there was something different about this one.

rob