Nghe An (VNA) - Afisherman in central Nghe An province has released a rare turtle back into theocean despite being offered a large sum of money to sell the animal.
Tran Van Trung, in Cua Lo town’s Nghi Hai ward,found a turtle trapped in his net. The green sea turtle weighed about sevenkilogrammes with a length of 50 centimetres and a width of 35centimetres.
Trung said many dealers came to buy theturtle, with some offering up to 250 million VND (10,750 USD). The identity of the dealers and their motivesremain unknown.
He was helped by local authorities to release theanimal back into the ocean in the next day.
In Vietnam, green sea turtles, togetherwith three other species, are critically threatened due to illegalhunting for food and handicrafts like jewellery, which is made of theirshells.
Statistics from the Education for Nature –Vietnam showed that on average, about 150,000 young green turtles return to theocean each year but the number of mature turtles of the species is estimated atjust 150 annually.
A study conducted by the International Union forConservation of Nature said only 10 green sea turtles give birth on beaches innorthern Quang Ninh and central Quang Binh provinces annually.-VNA