The turtle that was found earlier this week on the hard shoulder of the A9 near Amstelveen is in bad shape. The animal is said to have been roaming around for quite some time, after it was dumped by its owner at the time.
That is what an employee of the shelter in Harkema, Friesland, where the A9 turtle is currently being taken care of. “Unfortunately, she is very thin and infested with parasites.”
The turtle was carrying eggs, the employee says. Female tortoises lay eggs once a year, regardless of whether they are fertilized. “But we had the eggs destroyed because it is illegal to multiply these turtles.”
No little turtles
And for animal lovers who are now on their hind legs, the shelter has a comforting message: “There were no small turtles in it, just some egg yolk.”
Despite her poor health condition, the employee is hopeful that this turtle will survive. “We sometimes get them worse.” She is now being cared for and after a quarantine period, if she has recovered sufficiently, she will be able to swim safely in one of the heated pools,” the shelter said.
The turtle doesn’t have a name yet, but A9 thinks the employee is a nice suggestion. “I was already thinking about that, because there is already an A7 around here, so we’re going to do that.”
Eggs in the roadside
Recently, so many turtles have been found and brought to the Frisian shelter that the organization even asks reporters for extra patience. The day before yesterday it was hit in Dordrecht. A turtle was found there that had recently laid eggs in the central reservation of a busy street, Rijnmond reported the day before yesterday. That copy was also in bad shape.