Sanya, August 27 (China News Network) -- A rescued sea turtle weighing about 200 kilograms was declared dead in Sanya on the 26th. Veterinary autopsies found that nearly 6 kilograms of marine debris had accumulated in the turtle's intestines, including plastic bags, fishing nets, masks, ropes, fish hooks, etc.
Veterinary teams rescue turtles on the operating table. Courtesy of Wang Yuanyuan
This turtle is a giant female turtle with a body length of about 90 cm, a width of 70 cm and a weight of about 200 pounds. It was found in the mangrove forest near Yalong Bay in Sanya on the evening of July 15, and was brought back to the Sanya Haichang Biological Conservation Center by the rescue team of the Haichang Ocean Park Animal Rescue Center and the police for examination and treatment that night.
Foreign bodies cleared from the turtle's body. Courtesy of Wang Yuanyuan
The veterinary team responsible for treating the turtle said that the direct cause of the autopsy found that the death was that the turtle had swallowed a large amount of foreign body, resulting in intestinal obstruction and necrosis.
At the beginning, we cleaned and disinfected the phenomenon of the turtle's prolapse, and took blood from it, and the blood test results showed that the turtle was infected and accompanied by dehydration, and then treated it with intravenous anti-inflammatory and rehydration. After a period of treatment, the turtle's prolapse recovered well and its appetite resumed. Pang Lei, a veterinarian at Sanya Haichang Biological Conservation Center, said that after that, a small amount of drug bait was fed to him every day, and he continued to consolidate treatment and regularly added antibiotics and other therapeutic drugs. However, during the treatment process, it was found that the turtle still behaved abnormally, and there was no normal fecal excretion, and it was unilaterally floating in the water, and it was suspected that there were foreign bodies and gases left in the intestine. After gastroscopic exploration, no obvious foreign body was found in the stomach, and the gastric mucosa was good and undamaged, so the second stage was treated with paraffin oil gastric enema.
After several enema operations, the turtles discharged a fishnet-like foreign body, which the rescue team suspected was due to obstruction in the intestine. In order to be able to diagnose the cause of the turtle as soon as possible, the Sanya Haichang Biological Conservation Center sent the turtle to the Sanya Ailuo Pet Hospital with surgical conditions for further treatment. On 25 August, the turtle was diagnosed with "large-scale obstruction in the intestine" and required immediate surgery.
Due to the large size and very difficult operation of this turtle, it took more than 2 hours for the turtle to enter anesthesia with the participation of multiple veterinarians. "This turtle is much heavier than the average animal, so we also concluded after many discussions about its anesthetic dose, and anesthetized it in the form of intramuscular injection + anesthesia machine." Hou Zhen, president of the Lovers Pet Hospital who participated in the operation, said.
During the operation, veterinarians found that the amount of foreign bodies in the turtles was very large, and the difficulty coefficient of removal was high. After 4 hours of surgery, only about 2 pounds of foreign bodies were removed from it. Considering the long operation time, complex foreign body structure and animal state, the rescue team decided to end the first operation and perform the second operation after the turtles recuperated for several days.
After the operation, the veterinarians of Sanya Haichang Biological Conservation Center performed anti-inflammatory and hydration measures on the turtles and placed them in the isolation medical pool to restore their consciousness. At about 9 a.m. on August 26, sea turtles were found to have no vital signs. After being instructed, the veterinarian dissected him and removed more foreign objects from the body, including plastic bags, fishing nets, masks, ropes, fish hooks, etc., totaling about 4 pounds.
Turtles that died from eating 6 pounds of marine litter. Courtesy of Wang Yuanyuan
"After the dissection, it was found that the posterior part of the intestine of the turtle had been severely necrotic, the intestinal wall was fragile and fragile, the intestinal mucosa was bleeding in a large area, and there were fishing lines in many places in the foreign body that were connected to each other throughout the intestine, and the surgery could not be removed at all." Pang Lei said. (End)
Source: China News Network