Matthew Kail sentenced to prison for involvement in black market trade stretching from South Carolina to Hong Kong
U.S. District Judge Joe Anderson’s sentence makes Kail the second member of the ring to receive prison time. Baker received more than a year in prison at his sentencing hearing in March. At least three others with South Carolina connections have received probation and fines. The prison sentences for Baker and Kail are believed to be the first in South Carolina for illegal wildlife trading. Holliday said Kail will report to prison at a later date, likely in Florida.
Kail, a 31-year-old Pomona Park, Fla., resident who was born in South Carolina, pleaded guilty last September to wildlife conspiracy charges after prosecutors said he received cash and foreign turtles as payment for providing American turtles to the ring’s leader in South Carolina.
Balkan Pond Turtle Discovered Along Dubrovnik’s River Ombla, thought to be extinct there
the next important step was to conduct a survey to determine whether or not there were still any individual Balkan pond turtles living in and along Dubrovnik’s Ombla river. This research and evaluation was financed by Dubrovnik-Neretva County and was carried out by the Hyla Association in coordination with the Public Institution for Management of Protected Areas of Nature of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. The first survey results, carried out in April 2019, are above all expectations, as they proved that two more river turtle species have been found living along Dubrovnik’s Ombla river. There is now a realistic possibility that there is still a small population of Balkan pond turtles living permanently at that location.
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missing tortoise in Temple, TX- details in Miscellany section
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Conservation
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Education
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Miscellany
USA: tortoise missing in Temple, TX
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Photo from Ben Wurst.
