NO WAY TO ACHIEVE MERIT
Superstitions, like throwing coins into a pond, have a devastating affect on wildlife and need to stop, warns veterinarian
The story of a green sea turtle, which has become a “piggy bank” after swallowing 5kg of good-luck coins has grabbed worldwide media attention but veterinarians involved with the case wish it was the last one. On March 6, a team of 10 vets from Chulalongkorn University made headlines after successfully performing an operation to remove 915 coins from the stomach of a 25-year-old green sea turtle.
The turtle was named Orm Sin (Piggy Bank) after it was found she had a huge lump of coins in her stomach. The fibrosis, which represented about 10% of the turtle’s total body weight, pressed down on her shell, which cracked in the abdominal area.
When she arrived at the vets, Orm Sin suffered from indigestion. She could not walk or swim because of the unbalanced weight on the left side of her body.
The plight of the piggy bank turtle, a victim of people who threw loose coins into her pond seeking good fortune, prompted the public to donate about 15,000 baht to support the coin-removal surgery.
Nantarika Chansue, director of the Aquatic Animal Research Centre of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Veterinary Science, hopes the publicity will not go to waste.
The vet in charge of the case wants the piggy bank turtle to be a clarion call against tossing loose coins into an animal enclosure in search of longevity or fortune.
“Please stop throwing coins into ponds with animals. It’s a serious sin,” the vet wrote on her Facebook page.
She said she felt angry when she first saw the results of CAT scan which revealed what she thought was a tumour in the turtle’s belly was actually an accumulation of coins and fibrosis.
“Shouldn’t I be furious? It’s bad enough the sea turtle has been taken away from her natural habitat and put in a confined space. But people made it even worse by throwing unnatural objects into her enclosure, which became a risk to her health out of a belief that it would bring them good fortune,” the vet said.
Dr Nantarika said that to her, Orm Sin is sending a crucial message with her own life.
“I feel like she is a representative of her species telling human beings to stop doing this to her kind,” she said.
Although the sea turtle is a listed endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Orm Sin had been kept in a pool in Si Racha municipality. It was later transferred to the navy’s Sea Turtle Conservation Centre after the municipality renovated its facility and could not take care of the animal.
While the case of the piggy bank turtle is an exceptionally severe one, the vet said it’s not the first and probably would not be the last.
Animals, whether in nature or domesticated, that consume non-digestible materials and garbage can get gravely sick or die. It’s a problem with no clear solution in sight, said Dr Nantarika.
“We have treated not just turtles but fish who ate all kinds of things including ballpoint pens, fish nets, safety pins or milk containers,” she said.
The vet urged people to stop abandoning animals at places like temples where they are often not properly cared for. She also asked these premises to at least erect signs telling people not to throw coins or non-food items into an animal enclosure.
According to the vet, Orm Sin is recovering well. Dr Nantarika said she is hoping the sea turtle can regain the strength to swim and stay underwater. After that, she hopes Orm Sin would be returned to nature.
After crossing the first health hurdle, the turtle still has a long way to go.
“We still don’t know whether she will be able to adjust her lungs after living with the added weight for so many years. If she can’t, she will have to relearn how to swim,” Dr Nantarika said.
Pasakorn Briksawan, who led the surgery team, said that in his 10-year career he has never seen a case in which an animal had eaten so many alien objects.
The surgeon, whose patients are usually dogs, said the most he ever extracted was about 10 pieces.
Dr Pasakorn said the team spent about four hours pulling out more than 900 coins. Since some of the coins were corroded and melted by gastric acid, he had to take utmost care in making sure that the turtle’s stomach would not be damaged during the extraction.
The positioning of the coins, along with the sea turtle’s unique biology, complicated the surgery, he said.
The sea turtle’s lungs are located near the top of the shell, which meant the extra 5kg weight from the coins would crush her lungs if she was placed on her back during the operation, Dr Pasakorn said.
For that reason, the surgery team had the turtle lie down on her side at a 45-degree angle.
“It’s a unique position for surgery,” said Dr Pasakorn.
The vet said he could not make the incision on the turtle’s stomach too large for fear the metal content could leak into the abdominal cavity and cause an infection.
He also noted that further caution was needed because Orm Sin’s stomach had been stretched thin by the indigestible coins. The vet said he was surprised that the surgery became international news.
“Maybe people didn’t realise what they did out of their own belief could cause so much harm to animals,” Dr Pasakorn said.
Once Orm Sin’s wound heals, the vets will see if the shell is mended. Then they will see if the surgery will have any effect on her swimming, Dr Pasakorn said.
After that, the team will see if the sea turtle’s internal organs can function properly underwater.
“It will be a long story. The media will have lost interest in the piggy bank turtle but she will still be on the mend,” Dr Pasakorn said.
While the vet would like Orm Sin’s case to be a wake-up call to people who harm animals out of superstition, he said the wishing coins may not be the biggest problem.
“It’s garbage,” Dr Pasakorn said, adding Thai people produce so much trash, with tonnes littered around especially in the sea.
“Orm Sin is by all means an outstanding case but there could be many more sea turtles and other aquatic animals which have died from eating garbage without us even knowing it,” the vet said.