ANGLESEY Sea Zoo has appealed for donations to help build the first turtle rescue facility in the UK at its premises.

The sea zoo has rescued three cold-stranded turtles since 2016, and has set a £50,000 target on a GoFundMe page to build its own dedicated centre.

Last week, “Tonni”, a tiny Loggerhead turtle, was taken into its care after being found on Moel-Y-Don beach on the Menai Strait on January 5.

It also saved Tally, the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, in late 2021, and Menai, an adult female Olive Ridley who was found on the Menai Strait shore in November 2016.

The sea zoo has so far raised more than £600 in donations.

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Tiny Loggerhead turtle showing signs of recovery at Anglesey Sea Zoo

A statement from Anglesey Sea Zoo said: “We are an entirely native aquarium so we house only cold water British species and we had no facility for keeping a full-sized tropical turtle.”

“However, we succeeded in rescuing Menai and bringing her back to full recovery ready for re-release.

“Then we rescued Tally, a juvenile Kemps Ridley turtle – the rarest turtle species in the world found only in the Gulf of Mexico.

“And through our experience and hands-on care, she too is now fully recovered and ready for re-release back into the wild.

“Now we have another recent addition, little Tonni, a very tiny but feisty Loggerhead turtle who needs the same intensive care.

“There is currently no dedicated turtle rescue facility in the UK and the nature of rescuing turtles means that we can cater from here for a very large area of the UK if we get a dedicated facility built.”

You can make a donation yourself by visiting: www.gofundme.com/f/anglesey-sea-zoo-turtle-rescue-facility.

The zoo’s team is still caring for Tally, in the hope of returning it to the Gulf of Mexico eventually, and said Tonni is now progressing out of the initial critical stage of recovery.

Cold-stranded turtles often die during the process of being revived and the first 48 hours of recovery are absolutely critical.

Initial examinations of Tonni upon arrival found it was extremely small at just 25cm long and 1kg in weight, with little apparent physical damage or deterioration.

The sea zoo added: “The facility will contain a purpose-built examination area, at least one purpose-built turtle incubator and one or more large adaptable recovery tanks.

“This would allow us to have several turtles of different species and at different stages of recovery at the same time, always meeting their exact needs.

“It will also allow all our turtle rescue work to run more smoothly and reduce the current huge running costs.

“So although it will not be cheap to build, it will be far more safe and efficient than our current set-up and will allow us to take more turtles and give them the best possible chance of full recovery and release.

“Here at the Anglesey Sea Zoo, we believe that sea turtles belong in the wild, and we do not believe in having them on long term display even if it were possible to do so.

“Therefore, our turtle rescue and rehabilitation facility will continue to be behind the scenes and separate from the main aquarium, to provide the specialised and controlled environment which it needs for proper turtle treatment and rehabilitation whilst also allowing public engagement and education about our rescue turtles at different stages of recovery without any disturbance to them.

“Every turtle that we nurse back to health will be returned to the wild where it belongs.

“Currently, we will always accept a turtle that needs care but our resources are limited as we do not have a bespoke facility for this.

“We are extremely limited in every way without any proper area or facility for turtles and limited by extremely basic equipment and conditions.

“Going forward, we need this to change in order to be a proper facility and to save more turtles by giving them the specialist care that they need.

“So please help us to raise funds for this facility, to give every turtle that turns up on a British beach whilst still alive the best possible chance of survival.”