Thai peoples have a superstition that throwing coins towards turtles could bring good luck and long life but, this belief brought bad luck for a female green sea turtle. A 25 years old Thai sea turtle nicknamed “Bank” had swallowed coins into her tummy.
Veterinarian surgeons in Bangkok performed an emergency operation to rescue the turtle. They have found 915 coins inside her stomach. According to the report by FOX News, those coins were about 11 Pounds(~5 Kilogrammes) in weight and all of these coins were thrown by luck seeking tourists.
Those weighty coins made some cracks at the Bank’s Ventral shell. Dean of Chulalongkorn University's veterinary faculty Roongroje Thanawongnuwech explained that a green sea turtle has an average lifespan of 80 years. International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) listed it as an endangered species.
A team of five surgeons from Chulalongkorn University's veterinary faculty in the eastern town of Sri Racha successfully able remove those coins through the operation on March 6th. As per the report by Live Science, its took four hours to fetch all of the coins from Bank’s stomach and she was anaesthetized during the process.
Surgeons had to make a four-inch incision to get access to those coins. Most of the coins were corroded and partially dissolved so, surgeons had to remove few coins at a time. Head of Chulalongkorn University's veterinary medical aquatic animal research centre Dr Nantarika Chansue said in a statement,“I felt angry that humans, whether or not they meant to do it or if they did it without thinking, had caused harm to this turtle”.
Bank is now under treatment at Chulalongkorn University's animal hospital. During this period liquid foods will be the only diet for Bank for the next two weeks. Navy team of Thailand first found this ailing turtle at the seaside hometown. Veterinarians diagnosed her problem with a detailed 3D scan.
Not only coins, surgeons also found two fishing hooks inside her stomach. To collect the expenses for her surgery and treatment, Thailand media has arranged a fundraising program by publishing her shocking stories. They have already collected nearly 50,000 Baht (~ $428) and the amount is still increasing.
