Cambodia seizes 102 rare tortoises, 17 pythons in raid

Cambodia's Forest Administration has confiscated 102 endangered tortoises and 17 pythons in a raid on a cargo truck in southern Kandal province, an official said on Tuesday.

Y Sophy, chief of the Forest Administration in the province's Kean Svay district, said officials from the administration stopped the truck on National Road 1 late Monday afternoon after a tip-off that wild animals would be illegally transported to Vietnam.

"The elongated tortoises and pythons had been transported from northwestern Battambang province and destined for Vietnam," he told Xinhua, adding that the tortoises totally weighed 443 kg and the pythons weighed 127 kg in total.

He added that a suspected wildlife smuggler, who drove the truck, had escaped the scene while the officials were busy searching for the wild animals in the truck.

Elongated tortoises that live in mountains or forest are listed as "endangered" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

According to Sophy, the Forest Administration handed over the seized wildlife to the WildAid in order to release them back into a wildlife sanctuary. Enditem