Toledo (EFE).- A team from Safari Madrid has rescued a snapping turtle from a small lake in a central park in the Toledo town of Méntrida.
The rescue of this animal, in which agents of the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard have collaborated, occurred on June 26, has been disseminated on social networks by Safari Madrid.
This same organization rescued, at the beginning of June, a spectacled caiman in an irrigation pond in Yunclillos, also in the province of Toledo.
Safari Madrid has explained that it was a group of teenagers who gave the notice that they had seen a large turtle in a lake in the center of Méntrida.
These young people also sent a video in which Safari Madrid was able to verify that the animal was a large specimen of the snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina).
The Safari Madrid team, after contacting Seprona, which has also collaborated in the rescue, went to the indicated place and deposited food on the shore of the lake.
After waiting a few hours, the animal came, since it has a developed sense of smell underwater.
At that time, the Safari Madrid team captured the snapping turtle with a large net without causing any damage.
Snapping turtle was not microchipped at the time of rescue
With the help of the Civil Guard, they verified that the animal did not have a microchip, despite the fact that it is mandatory in these species, and they proceeded to install one.
After this step, they transferred the animal to the Safari Madrid facilities, which has warned that the snapping turtle is potentially dangerous.
In fact, it has a powerful bite and is very aggressive, which poses a danger to pets and children, as well as the native fauna of the area.
Safari Madrid has appealed to people’s responsibility when acquiring pets, both domestic and exotic, in addition to the danger of releasing them in a habitat that is not theirs, since it is an invasive animal with a high capacity for adaptation.
In addition, it has warned that the fines for these behaviors are very high as it is an attack against the local flora and fauna.
They found an alligator one meter long in Yunclillos (Toledo)
Safari Madrid also collaborated a few weeks ago in the rescue of a spectacled caiman, which appeared in an irrigation raft in Yunclillos, some 40 kilometers from where the snapping turtle appeared.
In the case of the alligator, almost a meter long, they had to make hooks strong enough to hold the animal without causing it any harm and, during the operation, one of the rescuers suffered a bite from the animal.