Madagascar is famously known for its vitality in nature. But this story is not about that. This is about a house that reeks of a foul stench. And when neighbors report to the authorities a chain of unbelievable events occur. The officers find a moving floor inside the house. And the reason behind it is unbelievable!
The incident took place in Madagascar. You probably have watched that famous movie going by the same name. No need to say, the place is occupied with lots of wildlife. But it would be misleading to say that lions and zebras do talk there.
A house in Madagascar was hiding something unbelievable inside it. Surprisingly no one could get wind of it. The house looked all empty from outside but who knew what was going on inside?
The supposedly vacant home was giving out a weird smell. They thought that the place was vacant for a very long time but the truth was far from that. Soon, the smell became stronger. It became so pungent that neighbors began to feel suffocated. How could all of a sudden a smell come from a house that had never seen a human in decades? It was strange!
First, they ignored it assuming that the smell was coming from somewhere else. Soon they realized that ignoring it was not an option. There was no doubt, the smell was coming out of that very house. Everyone wondered how terribly the house would be smelling like when the smell is so strong where they were.
Surprisingly, many people would come and go from the house. Especially, since the time the smell had begun to come. What struck the neighbors, even more, was the fact that none of the visitors would stay there for long. What was so important in the house that the visitors would go inside it despite the foul smell? Or was it the source of smell they were after?
However, the smell faded away after a while. The neighbors got busy in their day to day life. It seemed everything was back on the track. The vacant home once again got faded into ignorance. But that was not for long.
The neighbors did not want to intervene. Just when people began to forget about it, smell emerged once again. All the neighbors came together and discussed it. Now there was no doubt that the smell was coming out of that house only. There was only one way to find out. They unanimously decided to call the police.
The neighbors did not waste time in reporting. They told the officer all about that strange smell and how was it troubling all of them. The police knew exactly what was inside the house. They had investigated many reports that began with a smell and ended on a tragic note.
Police headed to that specific home. They took some of the locals with them so that hey could guide the officers around the home. There was something really unexpected waiting for them. Though they were going inside with an assumption, they were about to meet something really odd.
The police too had made all its preparation. It wasn't going inside all alone. Who knew what was there inside. In order to avoid any chaos, they decided to take a team of experts along with them in the house. The team consisted of a medical examiner, an expert of wildlife, and many others.
Soary Randrianjafizanaka was a member of the wildlife committee. The committee she was working in was often called by the authorities whenever any case related to the foul smell used to get reported. The woman is the agency's regional head. When she heard about the case, she herself went to the spot with her colleagues.
Additionally, that home was in her region too. She had many assumptions in her mind but none of them was any closer to what she was going to find inside. She hoped to find an alive animal but that seemed impossible as alive animals do not give out so strong smell.
To be precise, the home was situated in Toliara. It falls to the southwest coast of Madagascar. This is a peaceful place. Neighbors co-exist peacefully and are always happy to help one another. Everyone there is cordial with each other. So it was quite difficult to believe for any possibility of foul play.
The woman gives her service to the environmental agency. She is very devoted to her work. If by any chance the home was occupied by animals then there was a lot to plan for the agency head. The Environmental Agency works with the aim of helping animals.
The agency who has been in service for a long time has witnessed a lot of crazy incidents that include animals. They have dealt with different animals with different temperaments. They have a good reputation for handling animals that are too scared or flighty. That is why the authorities turn to them whenever there is a case related to animals. The police called them this time too. However, they were not sure if they were required there or not.
It was indeed an unbearable smell. As they inhaled the contaminated air, they realized that it was an odd smell that can't be made. They tried to figure out what kind of smell was that but unfortunately couldn't. Soary was all set to go inside and have a look at it by herself.
The smell did not hold any resemblance to any smell Soary and her team had come across. They had been called several times to look into strange smells. Those smell they would find usually were linked with faraway dumpsters or leaks. However, they always kept themselves prepared. But the question was if their preparation was enough for what they were going to stumble upon inside the house.
Strangely, the house looked all ordinary. The white painted house was large in size. There was nothing off about this house. It was almost impossible to make out that the house was holding a secret. There was pin drop silence around the house. It was surprising that the house so beautiful was still vacant. Why no one was residing inside it? They assumed that perhaps the house was on sale. But they were wrong.
As they entered the house, a strong wave of that smell slapped them. It was very suffocating inside. Moreover, the smell was continuously spreading. Many team members began to feel dizzy. They placed a piece of cloth on their nose and hastily started searching for the source of the smell. It was clear by now that the operation was going to take a lot of time.
Everyone on the premises was curiosity-infused. Some of them even took a few guesses about what could be lurking in the house. However, Soary remained silent as she was working her mind to figure out the object. After a while, Soary made an assumption too. She said that the smell was coming out of an animal pee and fecal droppings. But was she right?
By now, Soary had become sure that the house had animals trapped inside it. At the same time, she did not rule out the possibility of humans kept as captive. Furthermore, there was a group who believed that there were some dead people inside the house. These speculations got fanned by the desolated nature of the house. There had been a lot of stories about this house.
The cops and their team were all set for the worst. They knew it was going to be a hell of a journey. However, little did they know whatever preparation they were making was only going to be in vain. The worst was waiting for them.
The real investigation had begun. They had reached their destination: the house. They had expected the house to be all vacant but surprisingly it seemed some kind of activity was going inside. They heard noises. Though the noise was not loud, it was clear enough to figure out that there was someone too present on their property other than them.
They soon found out where the noise was coming from. They indeed were not alone on the property. There were a few more people. The sight gave way to many questions. What were they doing there? It was getting even more puzzly minute by minute.
Those suspicious people were holding shovels. Not only that, they were digging holes as well. What was even more difficult to fathom was their urgency. They were digging the hole as fast as they could. Moreover, they were surrounded by weird things. The team was looking at them in disbelief.
All of their assumptions were collapsing. First, they thought the house to be vacant which was clearly not the case. Secondly, they thought they would easily find out the source of the smell but that too seemed tricky. What were so many people digging holes for and that too inside a strange house?
The cop walked up to them and asked what were they doing. As expected, the people began behaving strangely. This is true that the public often gets scared of being approached by police but here the case was different. They were not ordinary people......
There was a strange expression on their face. It seemed as if they were hiding something. There was no way they were digging holes for fun. And as the cop went steps closer thing only went bad to worse. For no reason, those people began dropping their shovels. It was clear from their expression that they had been caught. However, the police were yet to figure out what crime had they committed.
They knew that they had been caught. They immediately put their hands up in the air. There was no point running away as the team had surrounded them. The police too acted as if they knew what had they done.
Though cops did not know what, they were pretty sure that these people had committed some illegal deed. Police nabbed the guys and then moved inside to see what was the deal with this smell. The house was unlocked. The house was as devastated from inside as beautiful it looked from the outside. Everyone struggled to breathe.
They had never seen a house as messy as this. There was no light inside it and the ceilings were covered with cobwebs. They scanned the whole of the house to locate the source of the smell but could not succeed. It was then they saw something unbelievable.
They saw FLOOR MOVING! Yeah, you read it right. The floor of the house was moving. First the unbearable stench and now the moving floor, it seemed they had entered a nightmare. But there was more to this unbelievable discovery.
Soary and the team bent forward to take a closer look. It was then they realized what was it. The floor was covered with some animals. It was difficult to make out their presence as they were packed in like sardines. They did not even have room to move freely. They were all crammed inside the room. Which animal was that?
They soon figured out that those animals were tortoises. It was an unbelievable moment. Soary realized that these tortoises were no ordinary. She wondered how these tortoises came there. It was difficult to check the entire house as the tortoises were scattered everywhere.
Soary immediately jumped into action. She needed to get these tortoises to a safer place. They needed to be taken to a sanctuary. It was clear that these creatures were not treated fairly here. There was one more thing that Soary had found out about these turtles that could be the reason behind this condition of the tortoise.
The turtles found inside the house are radiated tortoises. What more they are found very rarely. Or should I say, they are hardly spotted in the wild now? The limited number of this species dwell in the jungles and forests of Madagascar. If we talk about their temperament then these animals are known for their docile nature.
These turtles become subjects of poaching owing to their rarity. They are even eaten by a group of people. At the same time, there are many people who like to have them as a pet. Despite the fact keeping them is against the law, many underground operations are going on. The species is on the verge of extinction due to the insensitive treatment meted out to them.
There was a time when there was a large population of this species. However, they have gone endangered now. The dip in population from the 1990s when they had a population of 12 million. That dropped down to 6 million by 2010. And now only 3 million of them are left on the earth. Despite their alarming state, human continues to poach them.
Though there were many turtles in the house no one had imagined the number they were actually there in. It was a huge number. To be precise, there were 9,000 turtles crawling inside that house. No wonder, the house was emanating such a strong stench.
It was good news that they had found so many of this rare species. But at the same time, they were appalled at the condition they were found in. It took a while to get all of them out of the house. Extra care was taken during their transportation from one place to another.
It was great to find so many rare turtles alive. The finding also evoked hope among the environment lovers. Perhaps, the population of this kind of turtle would increase in the future. As they say, everything has two sides. There was also bad news.
Among the rescued turtles there were many who were about to die within a week. Unfortunately, a thousand turtles had to give up their life. They were severely ill.
A large population of rescued turtles had fallen sick. To many, the illness was caused by dehydration. The vets did everything in their power to keep them alive. But providing care for each and every turtle was pretty tough. Despite that, they continued looking after all of them round the clock.
The tragic condition of these turtles happened because of the mistreatment meted out to them by their captors. They were raising them only to get them sold. And they did it inhumanely. In fact, they had overstepped all the limit of humanity. They did not even give them enough food or water to live.
The neighbors of the house were in pure disbelief when they learned that a legal activity was going on in the house next to them. What more, they could never figure out about these practices. Had the neighbors not complained about the smell, the culprits would have gotten away.
The story went viral in no time followed by debates and discussions all over the news. The incident shed light on cruelty shown by humans on animals. How people ruin lives of voiceless creatures only to make some money.
There have been many cases of animal cruelty and unfortunately, we have learned nothing from them. In fact, with time our greed for money has increased so much that we have forgotten that these animals are living beings too and they too get hurt. The only difference is that they can scream or talk like us to express their pain. The pet industry is one of those. There is a need for reformation for the pet industry.
Coming back to those 8000 turtles that survived the death-like situation. Will they ever be released? These turtles have seen the worst. Moreover, they are 8000 in numbers, no facility would have enough resources to cater to such a big population. So, they will never be released in the wild as their best care can be taken here only.
These turtles would have to spend their entire life under the supervision of experts. Though they are still in captive unlike earlier, they are in safe hands are leading a quiet peaceful life. People have even developed a liking for them, thanks to a star found on their back. There are many people who are fond of turtle collection. Keeping these turtles as a pet is illegal in many countries.
These turtles have to spend a large portion of heir life away from the wild. So sending them to the wild would be like handing them to trouble. This is true they hold the same instincts that turtles of wild do, theirs are less developed. They don't know how to find themselves food and can easily become a victim of any predator.
These turtles have a way better life before them. Now they'll be getting enough food and water. The researchers are very excited and are ready to go to any extent to keep them fit.
The first thing that the researchers have in mind is the breeding of more turtles. They are working hard to get them out of the list of endangered animals.
The culprits have been sent to jail. Now they are going to get punished for their brutality. They have been given a long term sentence. This incident is a warning for those who indulge in such activities. Cruelty to animals only leads to devastation of oneself.