A specimen of an alligator tortoise, of considerable size, was recovered in the Turin area and handed over to veterinarians at Canc, the Non-Conventional Animals Center, which is based in Grugliasco and is part of the Veterinary Special Education Facility of the University of Turin.
The specimen, commonly known as an alligator tortoise, belongs to a species currently banned from marketing and possession. The reptile was found on the riverbed of the Rio Fellone stream in the municipality of Pianezza by personnel from the Carabinieri CITES Grouping nucleus of the Turin Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Biodiversity and Parks.
The animal was examined by CANC veterinarians who found no serious pathologies except for the natural stress involved in the unsuitable environment in which it was found. The turtle weighs 15.7 kg and is 60 cm long, including its head, 40 cm of which is carapace only. It has currently been placed in the dangerous animal enclosure at the CANC Oasis pending its allocation to suitable bioparks.
