64°
The turtles were found when officials with the state Department of Environmental Conservation discovered an online ad offering painted turtles for sale in Nassau County in Hempstead.
After discovering the ad, a DEC officer posed as an interested customer and contacted the seller who offered five painted turtles for $200, the department said.
While not endangered, the turtles are native wildlife, and selling or keeping them as pets is illegal, the department added.
The officers, along with investigators, were able to set up a buy for the turtles at a Hempstead parking lot.
Posing as a customer, an investigator met with the seller as other officers stood by in an undercover vehicle.
The officers intercepted the transaction, seized the turtles, and ticketed the seller for illegal possession/sale of protected wildlife, the department said.
The officers turned the turtles over to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who later diagnosed two of them with life-threatening fungal infections.
The sick turtles are expected to make a full recovery.
More information about native New York turtle species can be found on DEC's website here.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Massapequa and receive free news updates.
