Red Book turtles live in the Dnipro pond, next to dirty bottles and household waste. Local residents say that the pond was polluted by vacationers.
This was reported by Suspilne.
In addition to turtles, the pond is also home to several species of fish, snakes, and frogs. Sometimes ducks fly to the pond from the neighboring yacht club. It is reported that there used to be a quarry on this site, which was later filled with spring water. Red Book turtles appeared here a few years ago.
According to the locals, every year they clean the coastal area on their own, but to clean the reservoir itself, experts are needed.
"It is necessary to clean the ecosystem so that this lake turns into a really beautiful place for recreation, for adults and children," say residents of the district.
Vetlikar Oleksandr Shuleshko says that such reservoirs are a natural environment for bog turtles. The man has been studying these animals for over 15 years. According to him, in a clogged pond, turtles can get an acute intestinal infection – salmonellosis.
"Chemical substances are being washed out of the same bottles. In turtles, first of all, the kidneys or liver can collapse. And this will lead to death," explained the veterinarian.
Oleksandr recommends relocating the red turtles to another reservoir until the pond is cleaned.
It is noted that Suspilne sent a request to the city council with questions about the reasons for not cleaning the quarry and about plans for solving this problem.
Local residents, in turn, planned to clean the reservoir at the beginning of May.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in the Poltava region, the public organization "Ekoltava" discovered the pollution of the Pushkar ponds and took water samples for analysis.
