Large-scale rescue of Big-headed turtles : Breaking news out of Myanmar. I come to you with an urgent plea. The past 48 hours have been sleepless and extremely stressful for the Turtle Team in Myanmar. As a result of a swift and joint response by Myanmar Forestry Department, Immigration, and the local army, more than 800 endangered Big-headed Turtles (Platysternon megacephalum) have been confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade. The incident took place in Tachileik, a border town of Thailand and Myanmar. TSA's Coordinator in Myanmar, Kalyar Platt, sprung into action immediately and boarded a plane with some of the Turtle Crew: Veterinarian Tint Lwin, and Wildlife Conservation Society collaborator, Me Me Soe. Upon arrival, they went into triage mode and started separating the turtles. Asian Big-headed Turtles are extremely aggressive turtles and cannot be kept together. With the help of the Forestry Department and local volunteers, they were able to isolate, process, and begin treatment on some of the animals within the first 24 hours. Recognizing the need to get these animals into separate containers and into cooled water to match their unique biological needs as soon as possible, Kalyar knew she needed to get these animals out of Tachileik. While the Turtle Team and a host of volunteers started packing the animals up for transport, Kalyar started making arrangements to get the animals to the TSA's rescue center. As it was impossible to find enough space to transport so many boxes of animals on such short notice Kalyar went looking for a plane to charter to fly the animals up to the TSA's Turtle Rescue Center in May Myo. Again, the team worked all night packaging and treating turtles in preparation for the early morning flight. We are pleased to report that Kalyar and the Turtle Team have arrived in May Myo with the turtles. She reports that they are exhausted and have not slept in 36 hours, but are happy to have got the turtles to the rescue center where they can get them into cool water. Always prepared, Kalyar had the Team at the Turtle Rescue Center making preparation and they were ready and waiting for them. The recovery will be long and costly, and will require additional resources to stabilize, treat, and save these animals. I am calling on you to help us with this emergency response. We need your help to save these magnificent and extremely rare animals. Please show your support by contributing $25, $50 or $100 to help purchase materials to build enclosures, provide transportation, and emergency medical care. Please give online today. http://www.turtlesurvival.org/donate#.WB5uFFT3anM
