Endangered Turtle Rescued & Repatriated Before It Became Soup

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HANOI, Vietnam -- A rare and endangered turtle can thank keen-eyed wildlife officers and a tiny microchip for saving it from a likely fate in a Chinese soup pot.

Poachers snatched it from a Cambodian river two months ago and took it to Vietnam.

Conservationists said that at 33 pounds it was sure to have fetched a good price when it reached food markets in China.

But a raid on the smuggler's house in southern Vietnam was the turtle's first stroke of good luck. Later officials found a tiny microchip implanted under his wrinkly skin, pinpointing its exact home in southern Cambodia.

Vietnamese and Cambodians officials worked together to repatriate the turtle and plan to release him back into the wild after a health checkup.

http://www.wftv.com/food/4746501/detail.html

My mother was freaked out in China to learn that they also eat what we consider household pets! What won't they eat?:shrug::crazy:

It's good that wildlife officials alert enough to spot this before this rare creature was somebody's lunch!:puke::grr:

then again, at least it wasn't raped by his staffer . . .