The Pingtung County District Prosecutors’ Office on Monday said it resolved to indict a mentally handicapped woman in the county who brought a sea turtle home from the beach in April.
A woman who lives in Hengchun Township (恆春) on April 3 found a sea turtle on the beach while collecting seashells near Hongchaikeng Fishing Port (紅柴坑漁港). The woman allegedly brought the turtle – which is an endangered species in Taiwan – home with her, and was recorded doing so by a man surnamed Wang (王) who was surfing nearby at the time, prosecutors said, adding that Wang reported the incident to the Coast Guard Administration.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Although the woman’s family brought the turtle back to the port the same evening and released it into the water, catching a protected or endangered wild animal is a violation of Article 41 of the Wildlife Protection Act (野生動物保育法), prosecutors said.
Those found violating the terms of the article may be sentenced to between six months and five years imprisonment, and be fined between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million, prosecutors said, adding that they would take the woman’s mental handicap into consideration during indictment.
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