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05th Oct 2018

123 baby turtles have reportedly been stolen from the Galapagos Islands

Melissa Carton

This is shocking!

Over 100 baby turtles have reportedly been stolen from a breeding facility in the Galapagos Islands.

The theft of 123 baby turtles is said to have occurred last Tuesday.

The Galapagos National Park have said that it is preparing a statement on the alleged theft of the hatchlings from a facility on Isabela, the largest island in the region.

According to RTE Washington Paredes, a lawmaker from Ecuador’s prized archipelago in the Pacific;

“They were all taken at once, 123 in all. It was a robbery.”

Officials are stunning by the theft but it is believed that a lack of security at the facility may have led to this incident.

Paredes described where the baby turtles were bring kept;

“The turtles are just there. If somebody wants to go in by night and steal, they can.”

The alleged robbery comes just months after a similar robbery in which 26 adult turtles were smuggled to Peru.

All 26 turtles were later returned to the islands.

There are currently no leads on where the baby turtles might be or what might of happened to them but officials aim to find all of the hatchlings and return them safely back to the facility.