An endangered sea turtle was turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources after a fisherman found it by the Pampanga river in Lubao earlier this week.
Fisherman Nimrod Castro reportedly found the Olive ridley sea turtle after it got caught in his fishing net while sailing along the boundary between Pampanga and Bataan. He took the animal under his custody and immediately turned it over to environmental authorities.
The DENR’s Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) in Pampanga inspected the turtle, with a shell length of 72 cm and width of 67 cm, and found it to be in good health.
The turtle was immediately released back to its habitat at the Bangkung Malapad in Sasmuan, Pampanga, which environment secretary Roy Cimatu declared as a critical habitat and ecotourism area.
The DENR classified the Olive ridley turtle as endangered in their Updated National List of Threatened Philippine Fauna and their Categories. This prohibits anyone from collecting or trading threatened wild fauna.
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