{"id":596338,"date":"2026-08-17T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/596338\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T20:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T20:28:17","slug":"rhossi-a-rare-sea-turtle-recovers-after-5000-mile-trek-from-wales-to-texas-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/596338\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhossi, a rare sea turtle, recovers after 5,000-mile trek from Wales to Texas | Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Kemp\u2019s ridley sea turtle<\/a> native to the Gulf of Mexico is largely thriving after he was found nearly dead on a beach in Wales in late 2023, nursed back to health and then flown to Houston<\/a> recently to continue recovering \u2013 though scans revealed signs that the creature has been grappling with lingering pneumonia, according to his caretakers.<\/p>\n

Rhossi\u2019s condition was detailed in a blogpost<\/a> on Friday from the Houston zoo, whose veterinary team was tasked with caring for the creature \u2013 believed to be no older than age four \u2013 and giving him the best chance possible at an eventual, successful return to the wild.<\/p>\n

A local dog discovered a 2lb (0.9kg), cold-stunned Rhossi, belonging to one of the world\u2019s most endangered<\/a> sea turtle species, on a beach in a Welsh village in December 2023. Rhossi was about 5,000 miles (8,000km) from the Gulf of Mexico region where Kemp\u2019s ridley sea turtles are native \u2013 and from where they have been known to be swept away for vast distances, including across the Atlantic Ocean<\/a>, by powerful marine currents.<\/p>\n

Wales\u2019s Anglesey Sea zoo subsequently took Rhossi in and spent the next two years nursing him to health again. His frame had more than tripled, and he had bulked up to 46lb (21kg) before he took a helicopter ride from Wales to London\u2019s Heathrow airport \u2013 and then a transatlantic flight to Houston<\/a> on 10 August.<\/p>\n

The Houston zoo\u2019s sea turtle staff by then had committed to taking over the administration of Rhossi\u2019s recovery, the facility said in its blogpost on Friday. And after an initial evaluation, Rhossi\u2019s caretakers placed him in a deep-water tank to let him become acclimated to his new surroundings.<\/p>\n

Video of Rhossi, a Kemp\u2019s ridley sea turtle who was nursed back to health after drifting from the Gulf of Mexico to Wales.<\/p>\n

Rhossi then had a more comprehensive medical examination performed by Dr Joe Flanagan, a senior veterinarian who briefly came out of retirement for the assessment, the Houston zoo said.<\/p>\n

The resilient turtle had his organ function, eyes, mouth, shell and flippers checked. He also had X-rays and a CT scan to take a closer look at his lungs, according to the Houston zoo.<\/p>\n

Rhossi largely acquitted himself as \u201chealthy, active and vigorous\u201d during the examination, the facility reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s very strong,\u201d Flanagan said in a Reuters video report<\/a>. \u201cHe swims normally. He dives. He surfaces. He breathes fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Houston zoo employee shines a light on Rhossi as the turtle lies on an exam table in Houston, Texas, on 11 August. Photograph: Evan Garcia\/Reuters<\/p>\n

But, after having endured the north Atlantic\u2019s perilously frigid waters before his rescue, \u201chis scans revealed a concern for lingering pneumonia\u201d, and his return to the Gulf of Mexico would evidently \u201ctake a little longer than expected\u201d, the zoo wrote.<\/p>\n

The zoo nonetheless added: \u201cRhossi\u2019s medical team will continue to monitor him and provide additional treatment, as needed, to ensure the best possible chance of a successful return to the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

Houston\u2019s zoo said Rhossi\u2019s story illustrated the \u201cincredible dedication and careful coordination of \u2026 multiple agencies and non-profit organizations\u201d. The facility specifically mentioned the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>, the Anglesey Sea and Houston zoos, the Texas state aquarium and the Welsh helicopter pilot Darren Briggs.<\/p>\n

Underlying those entities\u2019 efforts is the fact that the population of nesting Kemp\u2019s ridley females is estimated to be only between 7,000 and 9,000, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The US government furthermore has considered Kemp\u2019s ridleys as endangered since 1970, at risk of extinction within the foreseeable future because of threats from humans such as egg collection and killing for products such as meat, information from the conservancy says.<\/p>\n

Frankie Hobro, the Anglesey Sea zoo director and owner, expressed high hopes for Rhossi as he settled into the Houston phase of his recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks like in a couple of years, he\u2019ll be fit for breeding out in the wild,\u201d Hobro said in the Reuters video. \u201cSo that\u2019s really exciting news for us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Kemp\u2019s ridley sea turtle native to the Gulf of Mexico is largely thriving after he was found…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596339,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-596338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}