5 June 2004
Smugglers leave 250 turtles to die in garage basement in Brest
Some 250 bodies of Central Asian tortoises were discovered in the basement of an unfinished garage near Brest's old airport.
The reptiles were apparently left to die by smugglers who were not allowed to take the shipment across the Belarusian border.
The turtles must have been dumped in the pit last fall, Viktor Demyanchik of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences told BelaPAN. According to him, the animals, which attempted to find a
shelter under a narrow slab, stood no chance of survival because of cold and damp weather.
Wildlife trafficking enters the world's top five most profitable illegal activities, the zoologist said. The authorities in Kazakhstan, which is home to most of the turtle's population, banned the export of
the species. Smugglers had previously released Central Asian tortoises indowntown city, and most of the animals became pets of Brest residents.
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