Terri all set to fly off tomorrow to a life in the sun

Thursday 28 January 2016

A rare loggerhead turtle that washed up on a Jersey beach just over a fortnight ago is finally flying off to a rehab centre in Gran Canaria tomorrow.

A company with a jet has come forward with a cheaper deal to fly Terri, the stricken amphibian, off to the Spanish Island.

New Era Vets have heard from several pilots offering to help get her off the Island so that she can eventually be released back into the wild including Durrell honorary director Lee Durrell, and her partner Colin Stevenson, a professional pilot, who are used to flying rare animals to and from the Island. They’d offered to borrow a plane and fly her there. 

Clinical Director at New Era vets Amanda Smith, who's been caring for her since she first arrived, said: “We are indebted to Lee and Colin for their help in trying to get Terri back as quickly as possible. They were organising it but they did say if there was a faster plane available that we should use that.

“The latest is that we are flying her out tomorrow on a jet that is going to get there quicker. It’s not the original jet we were going to use, another company has come through who are willing to fly her out there for a lot less.”

The vets, who thanks to Islanders' donations have raised more than £6,000 towards the cost of getting her home, say she was cold-stunned with some shell damage and signs of infection after being found by John Battrick who was out walking his dog on the stretch of beach between the Dicq Shack and the Rice Bowl in St Clement on Sunday 10 January.

After an appeal on social media, they found a tank big enough for Terri and slowly raised the temperature by a degree each day.

Vet Amanda Smith said: “She’s strong, she’s active, she’s still not feeding voluntarily. We need to get her away as soon as possible.”

Hopefully this won't be the last we hear of Terri though - vets plan to fit with a tracker so that they can follow her once she's been released into the wild.