An important repatriation operation has taken place at the Parco Natura Viva in Bussolengo, where 30 giant tortoises, smuggled from the Seychelles, are set to return home. These specimens were discovered in 2019 at Barcelona Airport during an operation against illegal wildlife trafficking. They had been destined for the black market and spent six years in Spanish recovery centers. The departure is scheduled for this summer, and the agreement was recently formalized during the kickoff meeting of the Erasmus+ project “GreenTraINT,” which aims to develop a sustainable model for biodiversity in the archipelago.
The Zoo Director of the Park, Camillo Sandri, stated that a veterinary medical protocol is being developed to ensure the proper transfer of the tortoises. Currently, only 30 of the 70 trafficked specimens will be able to return to the Seychelles, where they will undergo quarantine at the National Botanical Garden of Mahé before being reintegrated into their natural habitat. This project not only represents an important step in species conservation but also aims to transfer Italian and European knowledge to promote sustainable agricultural practices in the archipelago.
