Galapagos Airport Officials Thwart Tortoise Smugglers
March 30, 2021
Turtle Conservancy
(CNN) Airport authorities in the Galapagos Islands seized 185 newborn tortoises that were found wrapped in plastic in a red suitcase.
Officials discovered the tortoise hatchlings on Sunday when they X-rayed the suitcase, which was bound for the port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, according to a statement from the Galapagos Ecological Airport.
Galapagos giant tortoises are the largest living tortoises in the world and are only native to the Galapagos Islands, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which lists the giant tortoises as vulnerable.
