Turtle falls out of luggage on Jetstar flight
A turtle who was illegally brought on board an airplane will be euthanised, authorities say.
A passenger was unloading his hand luggage on the Jetstar flight from Melbourne to Hobart when the small turtle fell out from the overhead compartment.
"At first I thought it was a toy turtle sort of statue — and then it moved on my feet," passenger Patrick Kelly told ABC News.
Kelly said the turtle, about the size of an Australian 50 cent coin, looked healthy. "It looked to be moving its little webbed legs fine and sticking its head in and out," he said. "It certainly didn't look too scarred from the flight."
Kelly handed the reptile over to airline staff who then tried to find the owner of the Murray River turtle. When no one came forward, the staff then contacted Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife.
However, as there are no freshwater turtles native to Tasmania and the short-necked turtles are on the prohibited wildlife list, the intrepid turtle will have to be euthanised.
The Department of Primary Industries said the animals posed "a significant risk to our native freshwater species and waterways".
Jetstar confirmed to Mashable Australia the turtle was found on board. "Given we don't know it's origin or if it's carrying any diseases, we are unable to return the animal to its owner or the environment. It simply poses too great a risk to native animals," a department spokesperson said.
What a sad story. Isn’t it unfortunate to see such a thing happen to such a beautiful creature? Share your thoughts in the comments, we’d love to hear from you.
First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
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