'Turtle Operation' in Fuengirola

The Fuengirola River now has new inhabitants. These are 16 leprosy turtles, the only native species of aquatic turtle that exists in Spain, and ... which has been separated from the 71 specimens of invasive species with which it coexisted in a pond in La Cantera park. The turtles had ended up in this public space located in the Los Pacos neighborhood after being abandoned by their owners, a practice that is considered a crime according to the amendment of the Penal Code made in 2015.

The operation was carried out by the town council in collaboration with Bioparc Fuengirola, and not without some difficulty, because the first thing that had to be done was to search for the turtles: "The leprosy turtle is adapted to Mediterranean rivers, which dry up for much of the year, and what it does is bury itself in the mud at the bottom and estivate, and it does the same in winter if it is very cold, to the point that they can be days without water. Therefore, it has been a complicated process, because there was a lot of silt at the bottom of the pond, and it was not easy to find the turtles," explains Jesús Recuero, the veterinary head of Bioparc Fuengirola.

The zoo has assisted the town council to "create suitable pools to house" all the turtles found while the pond in La Cantera Park was being cleaned. When the process is completed, the specimens of invasive species will return to the same place where they were, while the 16 leprosy turtles found are already living in the area of the mouth of the Fuengirola River.

Aggressive Species to the Environment

Recuero has warned that "many of the turtles that were previously sold in pet stores" are "very aggressive to our environment" and are included in the catalog of invasive species, therefore "should not be bought." And if one acquires "any of those that can legally" be bought, what the owner should do is "keep them for the rest of the animal's life" because leaving them in a park, as has been done in this case, is "abandonment," warns the veterinarian.

The leprosy turtles are almost completely aquatic turtles, but sometimes they leave the water to rest and sunbathe, as being cold-blooded they need to regulate their temperature. They are omnivorous and reproduce between March and July, and the courtship and mating occur under water.