DENR will care for turtles if…

WILDLIFE CONTRABAND Customs personnel discovered some 1,500 duct-taped turtles belonging to different species when they opened a luggage abandoned by a Filipino passenger who arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2 from Hong Kong on Sunday. The turtles were handed over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. —RICHARD A. REYES

If China doesn’t take back the 1,529 turtles seized at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said it would care for them “until they die.”

Dr. Rogelio Demelletes Jr., DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau wildlife law enforcer, told the Inquirer on Monday they would ask Beijing about the origin of the turtles and whether they wanted these returned.

On Sunday, which coincidentally was World Wildlife Day, the turtles were discovered duct-taped and hidden in four abandoned suitcases at Naia Terminal 2.

These were believed to be owned by an unidentified passenger who arrived from Hong Kong aboard Philippine Airlines Flight PR 311.

The turtles worth P4.5 million included exotic species like the Indian star (worth P20,000 each), red-footed tortoises (P20,000), Hermann’s tortoises (P10,000), and sulcata tortoises (P8,000).

Probably intended to be sold in the black market, the turtles are now being cared for at the Ninoy Aquino Wildlife Park in Quezon City.

Demelletes said the turtles could not be released into the wild because they were not endemic to the Philippines. “They have to acclimatize first and then checked… [for] diseases,” he added.