Endangered turtle returns to females, lucky not to be soup

A 33-pound royal turtle was snatched by poachers from a Cambodian river and smuggled across the Vietnamese border by motorbike, according to an article on CNN.com. The turtle accompanied many other common turtles on a two-month journey toward the food markets of China, where turtle meat is a delicacy. Roughly 30 turtles were confiscated from the smugglers during a raid and taken to a wildlife inspection center. The royal turtle, an Asian river terrapin or Batagur baska, stuck out among the other turtles because of his extraordinary size. A lucky surprise: The turtle had been tagged by wildlife conservationists looking to protect the endangered species. Inspectors in Ho Chi Minh City found the microchip that identified his home, the Sre Ambel River in southern Cambodia. Because there are only between two and eight females there, the return of the adult male was particularly significant for the endangered species.