Vietnam seizes rare turtles from Cambodian bus

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Forest rangers in Tay Ninh Province seized 66 wild turtles and tortoises from a passenger bus traveling from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, on Friday.

The animals, weighing around 50 kilograms, were discovered packed into three tight boxes in the luggage compartment; some were covered in packing tape.

The smuggled shipment included endangered elongated tortoises and yellow-headed temple turtles.

The bus driver failed to produce any papers for the reptiles.

He said a Cambodian national had paid him VND600,000 ($25) to deliver them to a vendor in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mang Van Thoi, deputy head of the Tay Ninh forest management department, said his agency would monitor the animals for any signs of illness before returning them to their natural habitat.

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