Residents of Pemuteran village in western Bali discovered an abandoned warehouse where unknown individuals had allegedly kept turtles, presumably caught for smuggling. A total of 22 turtles were found tied up and hidden in sacks.
The rescue was made possible thanks to local fishermen. Early in the morning, a resident noticed a pair of tied turtles on the beach. As he approached, he spotted numerous human footprints leading to an abandoned warehouse of a former fish processing plant.
The man immediately reported the discovery to the village head, who then called the police. Officers who arrived at the scene and inspected the warehouse confirmed the fisherman’s suspicions—dozens of turtles had been captured and left there by unknown individuals.
Out of the 22 rescued turtles, 20 were identified as green turtles, and 2 as hawksbill sea turtles, both of which are endangered species.
The turtles were immediately transferred to quarantine under the care of BKSDA Bali, the Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation Agency.
Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation. So far, there is no information about who was behind this or why the turtles were kept tied up in the abandoned warehouse.
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