£10k BID TO SAVE MENAI THE TURTLE
ACAMPAIGN to raise £10,000 for a rare tropical turtle which was washed up on a Welsh shore has been launched. The Olive Ridley turtle – named Menai after she was discovered on a beach near the Menai Strait on Anglesey – was found last month.
The funds raised will be used for veterinary bills, rehabilitation costs and to return Menai to the wild.
It is believed Menai made her way from Gabon on the west coast of Central Africa.
Records dating from 1745 show Menai is the first Olive Ridley turtle to arrive in Britain since that year, according to the Anglesey Sea Zoo, where Menai is being looked after.
The species normally lives in sea water temperatures of around 25°C but it was only 8°C in the water where Menai was found last month. Her core body temperature had dropped from a usual 26°C to just 13°C.
Frankie Hobro, director of Anglesey Sea Zoo, said: “The fact she’s still alive is amazing. She still has buoyancy issues because she has air trapped under her shell.
“We have to take her to the Royal Veterinary College in London to get a better idea of lung damage.”
To take her to London they will need to have a purpose-built crate and a vehicle large enough for the crate.
Her road to recovery is still uncer- tain and depends on the results of the scan to determine whether Menai can be treated.
If she is able to be nursed back to her normal self she will eventually be released back into her natural habitat.
But she might have to be taken to slightly milder climates than she is used to in the first instance, such as the Canary Islands.
“Hopefully in a few weeks she will be in a condition which will allow her to be transported abroad,” Frankie said. “We’re moving her to a much bigger tank next week to get her diving again.
“We’ve managed to raise her body temperature by raising it one per cent every day. She wasn’t in water for the first three days then she was put in very shallow fresh water and then we increased the degrees every day until we got to 25°C.
“She was underweight, undernourished and we’re trying to feed her up gradually.”
Frankie said: “I couldn’t believe it when she arrived. The fundraising money goes to the new equipment she needs, extra food, as well as taking her to London, and for the tests.
“It will also go towards the flight to the Canary Islands.”