Biodiversity suffers

Vacation souvenir becomes a problem for fish

The North American letter tortoise(Bild: National Biological Information Infrastructure )

Introduced American spotted turtle spreads in lakes in the Drau town of Villach and becomes a danger.

For a long time, the American tortoise was considered a popular pet. But many owners released the reptiles back into the wild. And into the lakes around Villach, of all places. "The problem is that this invasive species, especially the young ornate turtles, feed on our fish fry and amphibian eggs. This is a major threat to local biodiversity," warns Theresia Meschik, Villach's chief veterinary officer.

But that is now set to change. Meschik is planning to track down the animals and place them in controlled and secured small bodies of water. To do this, the official veterinarian needs help from the public. "You can now legally hand in the found turtles at our animal shelter in St. Georgener Straße. We have an artificial pond that we have surrounded with a fence," says Hannes Matterdorfer from the Villach Animal Welfare Association.