DENR: 'Maamo' responding well to treatment, recuperating in Zambo marine facility

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Sept. 14 (PNA) -- The green sea turtle named “Maamo" (Tamed) rescued 21 days ago by fishermen with severe head trauma is responding well “to treatment and is now recuperating.”

This was announced by Roservirico Tan, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional information officer, citing Maamo is now recuperating at the marine facility of the Zamboanga State Colleges of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) in Zamboanga City.

Maamo was rescued by fishermen on August 24 in the seawaters of Naga in the nearby Zamboanga Sibugay province and was turned over to coast guard personnel based in the said town.

The coast guard personnel reported to the Naga Municipal Environment Officer, who in turn informed the DENR regional office.

Tan said Maamo was taken on August 25 to the ZSCMST’s marine facility in Zamboanga City and underwent a five-hour surgery spearheaded by neurosurgeon Gaudencio Ligutom, Dr. Anton Mari Lim, a veterinary doctor, and volunteers of the Tzu Chi Foundation, a non-government organization.

Tan said the consensus of the agency’s joint team of protected area management and biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management specialist and biologist is that Maamo was first hit by a boat propeller and subsequently received blunt force trauma to the head as “X-ray results ruled out gunshot wounds.”

He said the joint team is regularly monitoring the health of Maamo who is now at the marine facility of the ZSCMST in Zamboanga City.

Maamo weighs about 140 kilograms and measures approximately 120 by 92 centimeters and “now marked with Tag No. PH-0170-J.

The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), which Maamo belongs, is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

In the Philippines, it is illegal to collect, harm and or kill green sea turtles pursuant to Republic Act 9147 otherwise known as the “Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.”

Meanwhile, Tan said the DENR in coordination with the police and coast guard are conducting investigations to identify the people that inflicted injury to Maamo.

Tan said charges for violation of R.A. 9147 will be filed against the perpetrators, once identified. (PNA)

JBP/TPGJR/HIROHITO D. CADION