You won't believe what the veterinarians extracted from this turtle!

A unique operation was performed on a giant sea turtle in a Thai zoo. Veterinarians noticed that recently she began to move and swim with difficulty due to excess weight ... After all the medical manipulations, the 25-year—old reptile received a new nickname - Piggy Bank.

This green sea turtle is an endangered species. The reptile has been living in a zoo in Chonburi province for many years, which is often visited by tourists, including Russians. Recently, the poor thing felt bad and swam with a big roll on her right side.

X—ray examination showed that the turtle's stomach is full of round flat foreign bodies of different sizes - as it turned out, metal coins that the turtle swallowed for many years.

To save the animal, local specialists from the veterinary faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok performed an operation on the turtle's stomach, which took a long seven hours.

As a result, two fish hooks and 915 coins with a total weight of 5 kilograms were taken out of the reptile. The animal itself weighs 59 kilograms.

Veterinarians decided to give the turtle the nickname Omsin, which means "piggy bank" in Thai.

In Thailand, there is a tradition that for longevity you need to throw a coin into a tank with sea turtles. Western tourists throw coins in order to come to the country again.

Unfortunately, such a tradition will not contribute to the longevity of the Piggy Bank. On average, sea turtles live up to 80-100 years, but the damage to health from swallowed coins has clearly shortened the life of the poor thing.

Fortunately, the operation was successful, all the coins were extracted, the turtle is in a stable condition after the operation, nothing threatens her health.

Veterinarians assume that the reptile will fully recover in about a month, however, then it expects another six months of physical therapy.