It's strange: sometimes, the people that live right next to us are the ones we know very little about. Just ask the residents of Toliara, a city in the exotic African island nation of Madagascar. Everybody thought that the house on the end of the street was vacant. But then, they noticed a foul smell coming from the inside.
It was an odor so horrid and noticeable that nobody could ignore it. And yet, no one was able to recognize it. When the police got involved, everybody expected an easy solution to the issue. But what the authorities uncovered left everybody speechless...
The Finding of a Lifetime
Soary Randrianjafizanaka is a wildlife expert from Toliara, Madagascar. Soary lives in a country where wild animals roam almost everywhere, from the jungle to the city center. She is accustomed to dealing with all kinds of animal-related issues and has years of experience on the job.
And yet, Soary couldn't believe what she was going to find inside a foul-smelling home that a concerned neighbor reported to the police. It was the finding of her career and the one moment she knew she'd never forget. It all started with a routine phone call on what looked like just another ordinary morning.
Another Day at the Office
"Hello, is this Dr. Soary Randrianjafizanaka?" asked the voice on the phone. Soary recognized the number as coming from the police station. She was used to getting phone calls from the Madagascar police, which often deals with animal-related issues. "Yes, this is her," she answered.
"We have reports of a foul-smelling house in a Toliara street. Can you help us later today?" Soary agreed, as she usually did, and prepared to meet with the police. To a member of Madagascar's wildlife committee, joining a police mission is nothing but routine. To her, this was just another day at the office. Or was it?
A Foul Smell in Toliara
When Soary met with the police, they explained the situation to her. In this street in Toliara, the residents started noticing there was a strange smell in the air. They realized it came from a house near the end of the road, which had been vacant for as long as they'd remembered.
It was a familiar situation to Soary. Plenty of vacant homes in Madagascar ended up getting "invaded" by the abundant local wildlife. It was usual for animals stuck inside a house to produce an unpleasant odor. However, the police weren't entirely sure if this case was also animal-related.
This Was No Ordinary Smell
The police called Soary because it was routine to do so when investigating the origin of foul smells. However, some officers suspected there could be more than a family of wild animals in this situation. Their suspicions were justified because many Toliara locals reported seeing people walking in and outside the vacant home.
"Well, that's explained then," thought Soary, "some homeless people are living inside, and they probably don't do a lot of cleaning!" Again, the police explained to her the situation wasn't that simple. "The smell," said an officer who lived close to the vacant house, "it is inhuman!"
A Big, Wrecked House
Accustomed to some of the most pungent odors nature offers, Soary was curious to get to the vacant home and see (or rather, smell) what the fuss was all about. It was the first time she felt like there was something special to that routine call; was she about to stumble upon something unique?
Not knowing what was in store for her, she followed the police cars up to the front of the vacant house. From inside the vehicle, she remembers thinking that the home looked wrecked and neglected but otherwise normal. It was pretty big, too, especially for that neighborhood.
“I Told You So”
While inside her car, Soary grabbed her jacket (it was a breezy day in town) and started assembling her working equipment. Then, she opened the door, and an ineffably pungent odor assaulted her nostrils. Was it animal-made or human-made? With all of her experience, she couldn't tell! All she knew was that she felt like throwing up.
Horrified, Soary looked at one of the cops, with a cloth covering his face and a look of "I told you so" in his eyes. The poor wildlife expert grabbed a mask to cover her mouth and tried to focus. After all, she had a job to do.
The Quiet Before the Storm
Soary had never experienced such a foul smell before. And she was a wildlife expert! With a mix of fear and curiosity, she approached the house. It looked vacant from the outside, but she knew there had to be something inside. At this point, she couldn't guess what it was.
The door was open, and the police had no difficulty getting in. The team tried to be as silent and discreet as possible, as they didn't want to startle any people or animals inside. Everybody was tense, but nothing happened at first. For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence.
Waiting to Go Inside
Outside, some residents gathered around to see what was happening. They had been complaining about the smell for days and were happy to see the police finally take action. One of the neighbors talked to one of the cops. They mentioned that people were constantly coming in and out of the house in question. But that was not new information.
The peeping residents were kept away from the site for their safety. Some of the cops stayed outside because they really couldn't cope with the pungent smell. Awaiting anxiously for her moment to go inside, Soary witnessed the whole scene.
Everything Looked Normal
Inside the vacant house, the brave cops carefully walked from room to room, employing all the defensive tactics they had learned during their training. The house looked like any other vacant house one would find in the area. There was debris and dust everywhere; if someone lived in this place, there were no signs of it.
After a while, they invited Soary in to join them. The house was quite large, and there was still plenty of ground to cover. For now, though, the cops thought everything looked safe. Little did they know there were still plenty of surprises in store for them...
A Sound Coming From the Backyard
After stepping inside the wrecked house, she had to contain herself not to get back outside. For the first time in her life, Soary wished she'd packed a gas mask—that's how horrible the smell was! Alongside the cops, she explored the house's many rooms as mindfully and carefully as possible.
Some of the cops were already looking at each other, doubting there was anything inside for them to find. The ground and upper floor looked empty, and there were no signs of dead bodies. Then, they heard a sound coming from outside, not from the front door area but the backyard.
“Freeze!”
Slowly taking their time, the police started moving towards the backyard. The sound was becoming louder as they got closer. Soary followed them, her heart pounding with anticipation. The sound was low and repetitive, almost like a giant slowly walking on the wet sand.
When the first cop got to the backyard, Soary heard a loud "freeze!" The rest of the cops rushed in to help their colleague; there was no doubt someone was outside. When she got to the place, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Looking as baffled as everybody, they had caught two men digging holes in the backyard.
Unmistakably Guilty
That explained the thumping sound heard inside. But what were these men doing inside a vacant house? And why were they digging holes? The first thought in everybody's mind was the most dreadful: they were hiding bodies in there. That would explain the smell and their suspicious behavior.
However, the police quickly realized no dead bodies were in the backyard. That didn't mean they should let these men go. They had an unmistakeably guilty look in their eyes. The police started asking them questions, but they didn't feel like answering. Then, one of the two men tried to run away.
There’s More to This Story
It wasn't the best idea. The man was immediately caught by one of the many surrounding cops. Soary and the police didn't know yet what these guys were guilty of, but now they were sure they were guilty of something! Unfortunately, the two men were acting as if they were mute, ignoring the questions of the police.
While all the cops pressured the men to answer, a young police officer continued investigating the surroundings. That was when he made a crucial finding: there was a basement area in the vacant house. At that moment, Soary had a strange feeling that they were closer to finding the truth.
The Ground Was Moving
As the authorities took the two men to the police station for further interrogation, Soary and some cops stayed behind to investigate the mysterious basement. The smell was pungent in the whole street, but it was particularly potent in the basement. The entire place was in an even poorer shape; it looked like a scene from a horror movie.
The cops continued to explore the basement when they got to a secluded, poorly-lit room. One of them couldn't help screaming when he noticed that the ground was moving! What he saw beneath his feet was unbelievable. This was what they had been looking for all morning…
There Were 10,000 of Them!
Soary stepped inside the room and felt like she was dreaming. In there, packed on the floor, she saw thousands of tortoises. She didn't know the exact number at that moment, but she'd later realize there were more than 10,000 of them in a small room. No wonder the ground was moving: it was "made" of tortoises!
An animal expert and lover, Soary picked up one of the foul-smelling tortoises and knew what it was immediately. Unbelievably, she was in the presence of a species of endangered tortoises known as radiated tortoises. She'd never seen so many gathered in just one place.
An Endangered Species
The radiated tortoise is native to south Madagascar that exists virtually nowhere else except the islands of Mauritius and Réunion. They can live up to 188 years, but that didn't prevent them from becoming endangered. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they were mainly threatened by their habitat's destruction and... poaching.
Poaching is the illegal practice of hunting and capturing wild animals and is considered a crime (especially when it involves endangered species). Now Soary knew why the men they'd found before looked so guilty: they were criminals looking to make a profit from the innocent creatures.
Saving the Tortoises
Once they had solved the mystery, the real hard work began. While moving more than 10,000 tortoises to a safer place, Soary and her assistants realized that close to 200 of them were already dead on site. Left to perish in such an inhospitable place, a few other hundreds of tortoises were either dehydrated or infected.
It wouldn't be easy to find a home for such a big family of tortoises. But Soary wasn't going to let them die either! Sadly, she knew they couldn't simply release them back in the wild, as they were too accustomed to living inside.
A Record-Breaking Case
Soary was one of Madagascar's top wildlife experts, but even she was unable to save the life of every tortoise found that day. A few weeks after the crazy discovery made local and international news, it was reported that close to 600 rescued tortoises could not resist infection and dehydration.
The radiated tortoise is seen as a delicacy and targeted by many poachers whom local authorities often seize at airports, from Mumbai to Thailand. However, there had never been a case involving this many specimens. If it weren't for the quick intervention of the police, the more than 10,000 tortoises found in Toliara would've died.
Justice Is Served
This was a disgusting crime and one of the most blatant cases of poaching ever seen in Madagascar. Local authorities took the two men found at the site to court, and they discovered there was a third person involved. While the house was in terrible shape, often described as "vacant," it was owned by a woman who knew what was going on there. She was also taken in by the police.
Soary rejoiced when she realized the three criminals would pay for what they'd done to the endangered tortoises. Luckily, she and her assistants had been able to save around 9,000 of them.
Ending on a Positive Note
Although we won the battle against poaching that day, the war continues. While the African continent is the place with the most illegal poachers, crimes against wild animals occur everywhere, from southeast Asia to the United States, where many people keep exotic pets at home.
There's still a lot to do, but our story ends positively. Thanks to a telling foul smell and the quick intervention by Soary and the police, 9,000 radiated tortoises were now safe and living in a better place. As for the Toliara residents were happy to see justice was served and that the horrid smell had finally gone away.