Wellington Zoo Olive Ridley Sea Turtle temporarily at Wellington

[Nisha]

An endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtle is being temporarily cared for at Wellington Zoo following its discovery in a critical condition:

An endangered sea turtle which is believed to have been caught in strong currents before it was washed up on a Wellington beach on Saturday remains in a critical condition at Wellington Zoo.

The endangered olive ridley sea turtle received a full health assessment at The Nest at Wellington Zoo yesterday.

The turtle was discovered by members of the community at Lyall Bay Beach in Wellington on Saturday.

Normally found in warm tropical waters, Wellington Zoo spokeswoman Libby Callander said the turtle was suffering from hypothermia, as well as shell damage, and dehydration.

There were also concerns the turtle may be suffering from pneumonia.

"For turtles, their shell is actually part of their body, and shell damage had exposed some of the bone which leaves a high risk of infection.


"It's still in a critical condition, which means it has a 50-50 chance [of survival]."

The turtle, which weighs 25kg, was now resting up in a temperature controlled tank.

"What they are doing to measure its temperature is measuring the temperature of the pool they are keeping it in, which is being kept at a constant temperature.

"They would usually be found in temperatures that are 25C to 27C, so as long as the pool is being kept at that temperature the turtle will be in a much more comfortable environment than when it was first found."

X-rays taken as part of yesterday's health assessment showed the turtles lungs were clear.

"The lungs are clear, but pneumonia is really hard to detect in the early stages so they have administered some antibiotics to ward it off essentially.

"Reptiles do take a long time to recover from anything that is going on, so it will take a little while before we know what is going to happen."

Ms Callander said it was rare to see a turtle in such cold waters at this time of year.

"Even in the past New Zealand hasn't seen many of these turtles on its shores, they're usually much further north."

She said they were unsure as to how the turtle ended up in New Zealand waters.

"We think that it might have been caught in a strong current that it wasn't able to swim out of. That may mean it may have had an underlying health issue already, or it might just mean that it is a juvenile turtle that just wasn't strong enough to get out of the current."

Vets at Wellington Zoo believed the turtle was female, and would name her Ridley, as she was an olive ridley sea turtle, Ms Callander said.

Ms Callander said vets would continue to try and stabilise the turtle's condition, before working with other conservation agencies to organise rehabilitation and release.

"We don't have the facilities to get it rehabilitated -- we can get it medically fit and we can look after it at that point, but once it's going well it will need to be in a warm water pool so it can swim around and we just don't have that at the zoo."
Endangered sea turtle in critical condition - National - NZ Herald News

 

[Chlidonias]

in early August the turtle was sent up to Kelly Tarltons in Auckland, and will eventually be re-released back into the wild.

Wellington Zoo - Olive Ridley Sea Turtle heads north

The endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtle in care at Wellington Zoo’s The Nest Te Kōhanga is heading north to her new temporary home – Kelly Tarlton’s Sea Life Aquarium in Auckland.

The young female, dubbed ‘Ridley’, is the first sea turtle to receive care at Wellington Zoo.

She was discovered at Lyall Bay beach on Saturday 11 July by a local member of the community. As Olive Ridley Sea Turtles are usually found in warm, tropical waters, she was a long way from home and in a critical condition: suffering from hypothermia, dehydration and an injured shell.

Her initial prognosis was critical – but, thanks to the rapid response from the SPCA and first-class care from the Veterinary Team at Wellington Zoo, Ridley has made impressive progress.

“It’s very exciting to be at this stage of Ridley’s recovery. For her to have shown this much improvement is a good sign and bodes well for her eventual release back to the wild,” said Veterinarian Dr Baukje Lenting.

“She’s now fit and strong enough to move on to the next stage of her rehabilitation, which is wonderful news.”

Wellington Zoo staff will farewell Ridley on Friday 7 July, where she will board an early morning Air New Zealand flight to Auckland.

“We have planned every detail of the transfer to ensure that Ridley will be as comfortable as possible throughout the short duration of the flight,” said Dr Lenting. “She’ll then move into a large, warm salt-water pool when she arrives at Kelly Tarlton’s.”

The team at Kelly Tarlton’s are anticipating the arrival of Ridley, and will be working towards eventually releasing her back into the wild.

“We are excited to welcome Ridley from Wellington Zoo. Their team in The Nest Te Kōhanga have done a fantastic job nursing this turtle back to health,” said Kelly Tarlton’s Curator Andrew Christie. “Without their efforts, undoubtedly this endangered turtle would not still be alive today.”

“Our efforts will now focus on continuing the tremendous rehabilitation work that Wellington Zoo has done so we can ultimately release Ridley back into the wild. By all account she has progressed well; however, from our experience she is only half way through the journey to full health. After she arrives Ridley will spend time in our turtle rehabilitation area where we will work on her ability to dive and to establish neutral buoyancy, which means she will be able to feed and rest on the bottom as healthy turtles do in the wild.”

“Once Ridley passes this milestone and gains a respectable amount of weight, we will introduce her into our main oceanarium where she will spend time with other rehab turtles to help her build up muscle strength and fitness. She will be monitored on a very frequent basis to ensure she is recovering at the rate we would expect for this species, and only when we are confident she is ready, she will be released back into the ocean.”

As sea turtles often struggle to recover from being in such a critical condition, Ridley’s survival so far has been a great success.

“Ridley’s story is a great example of the collaborative nature of conservation agencies,” said Dr Lenting. “Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who had a hand in this precious animal’s recovery –from the members of the community who found her and called the SPCA, who then rescued her and brought her to The Nest Te Kōhanga for treatment, and now Kelly Tarlton’s who will work on her fitness. By working together, we can save animals in the wild.”