News San Francisco Zoo helps save cold-stunned Texas sea turtles - KCBS

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The San Francisco Zoo helped to save endangered sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico that experienced cold-stun due to the unusual Texas weather.

“A mammal regulates their body temperature internally, but a reptile like a sea turtle is exposed to the variance of the water around them,” Tanya Peterson, CEO and director of the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens, said. “As the temperature around them drops, so do their internal temperatures.”

Peterson said the turtles in the gulf hit by the unusually cold weather would in effect be paralyzed and drown.

“We received calls from an association that 40 of us belong to – we're accredited zoos and aquariums – that our colleagues in Texas needed help,” She told KCBS Radio. “Their employees were driving down to the coast. These are employees who don't have heat at home. They’ve been there since Sunday trying to rescue sea turtles. They need generators, they need fuel, they need support for their families at home.”

So the San Francisco Zoo, as part of that group, quickly donated the money, raising more than $150,000 in just three hours across all of the members.

And that is coming from some aquariums and zoos that, unlike San Francisco’s, have not been allowed to reopen at all.

“I think there’s a chance of success here, if we act quickly,” Peterson said. “I believe that’s why all of us responded as quickly as we could. There’s not a lot of money right now, but if there’s a chance of success – we really need success right now in our lives.”

The rescued turtles are kept in pools at conservation centers and tanks at closed aquariums, and the donated generators keep the water temperate so they will survive.

The Link Lonk


February 21, 2021 at 08:00AM
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News San Francisco Zoo helps save cold-stunned Texas sea turtles - KCBS

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