Life Does Not End With A Broken Shell

Highways are places for drivers, but they are also extremely life threatening to animals attempting to cross the roads. Earlier this week, a turtle was hit by car in Belize City and abandoned on the road but was later picked up and taken to the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic in Unitedville, Cayo where it is making a slow recovery. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with a family that went out of its way to help the animal and the team at the clinic who are hard at work trying to save its life. Here’s that story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

To many people, accidentally injuring an animal on the road is just a minor inconvenience in their day. But to that animal, the actions of a human can mean life or death. Earlier this week, a turtle was left to die on the side of the Northern Highway but was eventually taken to the Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic. Director of the clinic, Doctor Isabelle Paquet-Durand gave us an update about the animal’s condition.

 

Dr. Isabelle Paquet-Durand, Dir., Belize Wildlife and Referral Clinic

“The turtle was brought in four days ago. Kindly by the rescuer herself, and she had several breaks in her carapace, so her back was broken in multiple places. She had lost a little bit of blood, and we could see a little bit into her body cavity, so not good signs, rather a critical condition for a turtle. We then examined her, take x-rays, and started with what is done in medical stabilization, rehydration, keeping her nice and warm or incubated at a good temperature. And we also are giving her antibiotics and pain meds and anti-inflammatory.  And I did go in and I reduced the fractures, meaning I put the things back in place. And for now that is holding stable after four days.”

 

The turtle is making a slow recovery, which is the norm for reptiles because they take longer to heal. Marianna Rack and her family were the good Samaritans who took it upon themselves to save the animal. But according to Rack, when she first saw the state of the shell, she thought that was the end of its life.

 

 

 

 

Marianna Rack, Turtle Rescuer

“We went to the airport to drop my sister off and saw a turtle on the side of the road coming back from the airport. The same turtle was on the same road. So we stopped and it was raining. We stopped to just take the turtle on the other side of the road and realize that it is actually broken. It is, we thought it was dead. It was in a pool of blood with some parts out. So it didn’t look good. And it didn’t look that it had a chance, but we still picked it up and took it home because my husband was like, let’s see, maybe we can do something with that. So we brought her home, sterilized, put some Sterile goes and we realized that it was very much alive, very, very lively and moving a lot and at and did all the things that it was supposed to do. So I happened to call the wildlife clinic and they were very welcoming and they were very nice and they told us just bring her in. And that’s what we did.”

 

Although insignificant to the average person, turtles, like many other animals frequently injured on the road, are important and deserve a chance at life. Rack stressed that although her family went out of its way to help the animal, they are not the heroes in the situation.

 

 

 

Dr. Isabelle Paquet-Durand

“Every one of these species has a role in the environment, and they often balance our environment. And our environment ultimately is what sustains us. And therefore, even though it’s just a turtle it feels pain and it fulfills an important role. And most times we find these animals injured because of something that we humans did because we are very wide, widespread and our roads are a big danger.”

 

 

Doctor Paquet-Durant pleads for members of the public to assist turtles in crossing the road by taking them in the direction they are facing, but advises everyone to exercise caution when doing so, for their own safety and the animals. Britney Gordon for News Five.