Photos circulating on social media recently show what appears to be an alligator snapping turtle dead on a street in Fai Chi Kei earlier this week, with netizens saying that the reptile had fallen from a high-rise.
On Tuesday, a resident posted several photos online showing the dead turtle, and claimed that it was an “alligator snapping turtle” which was believed to have fallen from height onto the street from a residential building in Fai Chi Kei.
According to the National Geographic magazine, the alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America and among the largest in the world. With its spiked shell, beaklike jaws, a bite force of 1,000 pounds and thick, scaled tail, this species is often referred to as the “dinosaur of the turtle world.”
Because of their peculiar appearance, in recent years some people in Hong Kong and Macau have kept alligator snapping turtles as pets, even though they are an alien species to Asia.
According to the ”Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora“(CITES), the alligator snapping turtle is listed as a species in Appendix III in CITES. Its import, export and re-export are all controlled.
This photo taken on Tuesday and downloaded from social media yesterday shows what appears to be a dead alligator snapping turtle lying on a street in Fai Chi Kei.
