In a famous restaurant on the Costa Smeralda, which operates a hotel business, last week 5 specimens of marginated tortoises were seized, illegally detained as the men of the police unit of the Tempio Pausania Forestry Corps discovered.

The operation was carried out as part of activities aimed at controlling the species protected by the Washington "CITES" Convention which, since 1975, aims to ensure the balanced exploitation of natural resources while respecting environmental conservation.

Examined at the competent veterinarian, the good state of health was certified and the specimens, as ordered by the Prosecutor's Office, were released in areas where their presence is usual.

While the person who held them was reported.

"We remember - specifies the Forestry Corps - that Sardinia is the only Italian region where both the specimens of the Emys orbicularis species (European marsh turtle) and those of the three European testudo species live, namely, the Testudo Hermanni, the Testudo Graeca and Testudo Marginata. In Sardinia, turtles live in the wild even if in recent decades there has been the risk of the survival of the species, threatened by the progressive disappearance of natural habitats and food sources, as well as by illicit collection for commercial purposes or simply to furnish the private gardens ".

(Unionenline / ss)

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