Hong Kong sends home Philippine lizards

The Hong Kong government on Thursday sent back to the Philippines six sailfin lizards captured and smuggled out of the Philippines four months ago.

The sailfin lizards, which are endemic to the country, arrived Thursday afternoon aboard a Philippine Airlines flight from Hong Kong.

Reports reaching the media affairs division of the Manila International Airport Authority  showed that the lizards—an ecological equivalent of the Australian water dragon—were part of the shipment seized by Hong Kong authorities in February, along with 36 Philippine pond and box turtles that were sent back to the Philippines last April 27.

Pond turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis), which are listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered,” are endemic to the Philippines.