Turtles in Demand as Pets, Leading to Increase in Poaching

Turtles in Demand as Pets, Leading to Increase in Poaching

A growing demand for turtles as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching. Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally.

Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles and tortoises.

Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.

More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna¹ and Flora², or CITES. The CITES meeting runs from November 14 to 25.

Exact numbers on the turtle trade, especially illegal trade, can be hard to find.

Tara Easter, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, studies the trade. She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She estimates that the business export trade for mud turtles in the United States increased from 1,844 in 1999 to nearly 40,000 in 2017. And she estimated that the trade in musk³ turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.

Smuggling⁴ of turtles

The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles is a group of mostly state, federal and tribal⁵ biologists working to combat poaching of North American turtles. Since 2018, the group has documented at least 30 major illegal trafficking cases in 15 states. Some involved fewer than 50 turtles. Other cases involved several thousand turtles.

Earlier this year, a federal judge in North Carolina sentenced a man to 18 months in prison and fined him $25,000 for trafficking turtles in violation⁶ of the Lacey Act. The law bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, held, transported, or sold.

The man trafficked 722 eastern box turtles, 122 spotted⁷ turtles, and three wood turtles for markets in Asia. The man received more than $120,000 for the turtles, which have a value of $1.5 million in Asia.

Illegal trafficking

Freshwater turtles are among the world's most trafficked animals. They are targeted by criminal networks that connect with buyers on the internet. They transport the reptiles⁹ to black markets in Hong Kong and other places in Asia. From there, they are sold as pets, to collectors, and for breeding, food, and traditional medicine. In many countries, there are no laws to govern the trade.

The business can be highly profitable. Some kinds of turtles are sought out for their colorful or unusual appearance. They can be sold for thousands of dollars in Asia.

The trade adds to the threats turtles already face, including climate change, environment destruction and other animals eating their eggs.

Experts say poachers are even more problematic because they target rare kinds of turtles and adult females.

"The loss of large numbers of adults, especially females, can send turtles into a spiraling decline from which they cannot recover," said Dave Collins. He is director of North American turtle conservation for the Turtle Survival Alliance.

Government protection

The United States and several Latin American countries have proposed banning or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species. In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated¹¹ from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate¹⁰ means to take something away from someone to enforce laws or rules.

The illegal trade has also led governments to propose listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES – including North American musk turtles. A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.

Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama. He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles "really, really important."

"We've seen this pattern of turtles being depleted¹³ in one place, and then poachers and traffickers and traders moving to another place," Strickler said. "Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas."

Words in This Story

turtle – n. a reptile⁸ that lives mostly in water and that has a hard shell which covers its body

pet – n. an animal (such as a dog, cat, bird, or fish) that people keep mainly for pleasure

tortoise – n. a kind of turtle that lives on land

tribe – n. a group of people that includes many families and relatives who have the same language, customs, and beliefs

combat – v. to try to stop (something) from happening or getting worse

traffic – v. to buy or sell something especially illegally

sentence – v. to officially state the punishment given to (someone) by a court of law

breed – v. to keep and take care of animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind

spiral – v. to greatly increase, decrease, or get worse in a continuous and usually fast and uncontrolled way

deplete¹² – v. to use most or all of (something important): to greatly reduce the amount of (something)

1 fauna   

n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系

参考例句：

• This National Park is an area with unique fauna and flora.该国家公园区域内具有独特的动物种群和植物种群。
• Fauna is a biological notion means all the animal life in a particular region or period. 动物群是一个生物学的概念，指的是一个特定时期或者地区的所有动物。

2 flora   

n.(某一地区的)植物群

参考例句：

• The subtropical island has a remarkably rich native flora.这个亚热带岛屿有相当丰富的乡土植物种类。
• All flora need water and light.一切草木都需要水和阳光。

3 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

4 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

7 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

8 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

9 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 confiscate   

v.没收(私人财产)，把…充公

参考例句：

• The police have the right to confiscate any forbidden objects they find.如发现违禁货物，警方有权查扣。
• Did the teacher confiscate your toy?老师没收你的玩具了吗？

11 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

12 deplete   

v.弄空，排除，减轻，减少...体液，放去...的血

参考例句：

• Most native mammal species have been severely depleted.大多数本地哺乳动物的数量都已经大大减少了。
• Elastic collisions deplete very little of the electron's energy.弹性碰撞中电子减少的能量非常少。

13 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。