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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
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Results for turtles
5 results foundAuthor: Turtle Conservation Coalition Title: Turtles in Trouble: The World’s 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011 Summary: Turtles are in serious trouble. They are among the world’s most endangered vertebrates, with about half of their more than 300 species threatened with extinction. We commonly hear about the plight of other animal groups; however, turtles are much more at risk of impending extinction than birds, mammals, amphibians, or sharks and rays, and paralleled among the larger vertebrate groups only by the primates (Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2010, www. iucnredlist.org, Hoffmann et al. 2010). Turtles throughout the world are being impacted by a variety of major threats, to which many are gradually succumbing. They are being collected, traded, and eaten or otherwise used, in overwhelming numbers. They are used for food, pets, traditional medicine—eggs, juveniles, adults, body parts—all are exploited indiscriminately, with little regard for sustainability. On top of the targeted onslaught, their habitats are being increasingly fragmented, destroyed, developed, and polluted. Populations are shrinking nearly everywhere. Species worldwide are threatened and vulnerable, many are critically endangered, others teeter on the very brink of extinction, and a few have already been lost forever, with eight species and two subspecies having gone extinct since 1500 AD (see table, p. 5). The world’s living tortoise and freshwater turtle species are a remarkable evolutionary success story. There are about 328 currently recognized modern species (452 taxa; Turtle Taxonomy Working Group 2010). Turtles have existed for about 220 million years, since the Late Triassic Era, outlasting their early contemporaries, the dinosaurs. Turtles and tortoises have evolved a remarkable armored shell that has remained relatively unchanged through evolution, and while other vertebrate species have evolved and gone extinct, the basic body form of turtles has remained an obvious testament to their success and their ability to survive millions of years of natural selection. However, the previously successful survival adaptations of turtles, including delayed sexual maturity, high fecundity combined with high juvenile mortality, and a long adult life-span with low natural adult mortality, have left turtle populations vulnerable to new and devastating threats posed by human exploitation and habitat loss. Turtles and tortoises are major biodiversity components of the ecosystems they inhabit, often serving as keystone species from which other animals and plants benefit— Desert and Gopher Tortoises in North America, Giant River Turtles in the Amazon basin of South America, Pig-nosed Turtles in Australia and New Guinea, Giant Tortoises in the Galápagos and Seychelles islands, and large Flapshell and Softshell Turtles in Asia—all represent major components in their environments and are part of the web of interacting and co-dependent species that constitute healthy functioning ecosystems. Without turtles and tortoises, those ecosystems and the critically important human-welfare ecoservices they provide, would gradually suffer from the loss of biodiversity and degrade in ways still incompletely understood and difficult to predict. No turtle species should be lost to extinction, as none are expendable or unimportant. Increasingly, however, human activities are endangering many turtle and tortoise species while driving others into extinction. We are facing a turtle survival crisis unprecedented in its severity and risk. Humans are the problem, and must therefore also be the solution. Without concerted conservation action, many of the world’s turtles and tortoises will become extinct within the next few decades. It is now up to us to prevent the loss of these remarkable, unique jewels of evolution. Without intervention, countless species will be lost. We need to work together for the survival of turtles throughout the world, to understand the risks and threats turtles face, to define survival and conservation objectives, and to develop the successful management strategies and organizational alliances that can help us reach those goals. Details: Lunenburg, MA: IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, Turtle Conservation Fund, Turtle Survival Alliance, Turtle Conservancy, Chelonian Research Foundation, Conservation International, Wildlife Conservation Society, and San Diego Zoo Global, 2011. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/top_25__turtles_in_trouble_2011__2_.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/top_25__turtles_in_trouble_2011__2_.pdf Shelf Number: 128106 Keywords: TortoisesTurtlesWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimesWildlife Management |
Author: Schoppe, Sabine Title: Science in CITES: The biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and its uses and trade in Malaysia Summary: The Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis is one of 18 freshwater turtle and tortoise species native to Malaysia. It is widely distributed in Southeast Asia, having four subspecies with similar habitat requirements but different geographic distribution. Among them, the Malayan Box Turtle C. a. kamaroma occurs in Malaysia. In Malaysia, as elsewhere throughout its range, the Southeast Asian Box Turtle is considered the most common freshwater turtle. Nevertheless, the survival of the species is in peril due to over-exploitation. Of the hard-shelled freshwater turtle species in Asia, it has the highest exploitation rate, and is the species most sought after by East Asian consumers and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) markets. Thousands are harvested annually in Southeast Asian source countries and exported. The Southeast Asian Box Turtle has a slow reproductive cycle characterized through late maturity and limited number of eggs. It is therefore feared that the continuous highvolume exploitation in combination with its life history might lead to serious population reductions and finally to local extinction. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2008. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2013 at: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/science_in_cites_the_biology_and_ecology_of_the_southeast_asian_box_turtle.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Malaysia URL: http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/science_in_cites_the_biology_and_ecology_of_the_southeast_asian_box_turtle.pdf Shelf Number: 128315 Keywords: Illegal Wildlife TradeTurtlesWildlife Crimes (Malaysia)Wildlife ManagementWildlife Protection |
Author: Burgess, Elizabeth A. Title: Assessing The Trade In Pig-Nosed Turtles Carettochelys insculpta in Papua, Indonesia Summary: The Pig-nosed Turtle Carettochelys insculpta, also known as the Fly River or Pitted-Shell Turtle, is a taxonomically distinct, large freshwater chelonian restricted to the river systems of northern Australia and southern New Guinea (divided politically between Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Papua Province, Indonesia). The high international demand for Pignosed Turtles in the exotic pet trade, food market and traditional medicine practices has driven the intensified exploitation of this species in Papua. Despite being afforded legal protection in Indonesia and being listed in Appendix II of CITES, the Pig-nosed Turtle is increasingly being targeted in the province of Papua, Indonesia for international wildlife trade. This study highlights an urgent need for the existing laws and regulations concerning Pig-nosed Turtle trade to be rigorously enforced to curtail the illegal harvest and trade. Surveys on the trade of Pig-nosed Turtles throughout the Indonesian province of Papua were carried out in November and December 2010 to coincide with the Pig-nosed Turtle nesting season (September to February). Pig-nosed Turtles were primarily collected by Papuan villagers who source eggs of this species by excavating nests on the banks of rivers and swamps. Predominant collection areas lie in the Asmat region of Papua, although more expansive collection areas also exist further east and north of Merauke near the PNG border. Village collectors sell the wild harvested Pig-nosed Turtle eggs directly to traders operating in villages (typically non-Papuan immigrant traders settled in the region). There was also a growing trend towards incubating the collected eggs in ex-situ hatcheries located within Papuan villages, which was favourable among local collectors and traders because live hatchling turtles can command a higher price than eggs. Pignosed Turtles from Papua are traded as live pets, for meat consumption as well as for medicinal purposes. One respondent reported a company in Jayapura that purchases hatchling Pig-nosed Turtles for drying and then grinding into a powder for export to China, and resale in the traditional medicine trade. Local Papuans realize that the natural resources around them have a high value to outsiders, and what previously was opportunistic hunting for daily needs has become a large-scale exploitation of Pig-nosed Turtles. Turtle traders have also significantly influenced remote communities in Papua by bringing in and bartering with modern commodities (such as outboard boat motors) and provisions (such as useful equipment, supplies, fuel and foodstuffs). This survey found that local people were actively encouraged by immigrant traders to harvest and independently incubate eggs for trade, and that immigrant traders often organized and co-ordinated egg-collecting trips further upriver using motorboats. Improved transportation (e.g., motorboats and access to fuel) in the region have increased the accessibility of more remote river systems, and thereby expanded the harvest potential of Pig-nosed Turtles in Papua. Turtle buyers offering trade in rural communities, combined with a recent shift to a cash economy (cf. subsistence economy), has created strong incentives for local Papuans to trade in Pig-nosed Turtle eggs and hatchlings. Eggs and hatchlings of Pig-nosed Turtles are smuggled from remote source villages (via boat or small aircraft) to centralized trade hubs within Papua, including the towns of Agats, Merauke, Timika and Jayapura. From Papua, turtles were typically smuggled westward into major domestic trade destinations in Indonesia, including Jakarta, Surabaya and Probolinggo in Java, Makassar (Ujung Pandang) in south Sulawesi, and Denpasar in Bali. This survey also found that Pig-nosed Turtles could be bought through a growing online marketplace, with sellers located in Indonesia as well as in the United States and the United Kingdom. Along this international trade chain, the value of Pig-nosed Turtles increased exponentially: hatchlings were generally sold in Papuan villages for USD 0.56-1.33 each; in domestic trade hubs such as Jakarta and Surabaya for USD 3.30-8.33 each; and on international markets for USD 39-56 each. Thirty-two seizures of Pig-nosed Turtles, between 2003 and 2012, were compiled in this study, including more than 81,689 individual turtles. Most seizures (75% of reported cases) occurred early in the calendar year (i.e., between January-March) towards the end of the nesting season for Pig-nosed Turtles, suggesting that traders are moving shipments as soon as the turtles are hatched. Available seizure data suggests that Pig-nosed Turtles are being traded in large quantities, with consignments averaging 2817 ± 3701 turtles per seizure. Highlighting the enormity of this illegal trade was one seizure that rescued 12 247 Pig-nosed Turtles in Timika, Papua en route to Jakarta. Most enforcement actions and confiscations occurred at points of export from Indonesia, with little documented enforcement at the source of eggs collection. Undoubtedly, the swamps and river systems where turtles are sourced are vast and the villages involved in the trade are remote, making enforcement efforts for Pig-nosed Turtle trade geographically challenging. Nonetheless, the lack of enforcement, and potential corruption, at the source of trade means that the exploitation of wild Pig-nosed Turtles populations proceeds unhindered. All of the egg collections and ex-situ hatchery operations observed during this survey were illegal, relying on wild harvested eggs for commercial sale. An apparent problem for addressing trade issues in Papuan villages is that many local people are confused by the concept of 'captive breeding' and are freely collecting eggs without remorse. Inadequate enforcement of Indonesia's legislation to protect Pig-nosed Turtles from wild harvest in Papua is a major factor contributing to the excessive exploitation. Anecdotal information implies that while there have not been any quotas issued for taking Pig-nosed Turtles or their eggs from the wild, there are a few traders licensed to breed and export Pig-nosed Turtle in Indonesia. How they would have acquired breeding stock is not clear. Yet, according to the CITES Trade Database (WCMC), Indonesia has only ever legally exported one shipment of 57 Pig-nosed Turtles for the purpose of trade in 2006 to the US (these animals were declared as being Farmed). It is suspected that illegal smuggling is an easier and cost-cutting option, and therefore the preferred route for traders. The trade threat to Pig-nosed Turtles is further compounded by the high mortality rate reported in smuggling operations, with available data from reported seizures showing that on average 18% of turtles die in a shipment. Turtles that are found alive by authorities in confiscated shipments are held in a temporary holding facilities or rescue centres. Surviving confiscated turtles were sometimes repatriated back into the wild in Papua by Indonesian Customs and local government BKSDA officials - often with financial aid from industries within Papua. The environmental risks and financial costs associated with maintaining, translocating and reintroducing seized Pig-nosed Turtles are substantial, particularly for cases where turtles are seized outside of Papua and/or large numbers of turtles are involved. Results of this study have shown that the exploitation of Pig-nosed Turtles in Papua, Indonesia has reached a level that requires immediate action. High international demand for Pig-nosed Turtles, combined with an organised and influential global wildlife trade network within Indonesia, unregulated harvesting of eggs, an increased potential to collect eggs in previously inaccessible swamp habitat in Papua (i.e., using motorboats, improved regional infrastructure), growing socio-economic incentives for rural Papuans to harvest turtles for income and a lack of enforcement at the source of wild harvests, are contributing to unprecedented levels of exploitation of Pig-nosed Turtles throughout its Papuan range. Unless actions are taken to mitigate the high demands of consumer nations and to fully enforce the legal protection of Pig-nosed Turtles within Indonesia, the current unabated harvest regimes observed in rivers throughout Papua will lead to significant population declines of Pig-nosed Turtles (see Eisemberg et al., 2011). For the effective protection of the Pignosed Turtle in Papua, Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.: TRAFFIC, 2014. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 20, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/10/4/intensive-collection-threatens-peculiar-pig-nosed-turtle-in.html Year: 2014 Country: Indonesia URL: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/10/4/intensive-collection-threatens-peculiar-pig-nosed-turtle-in.html Shelf Number: 133748 Keywords: Illegal Wildlife TradeNatural ResourcesTurtlesWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime (Indonesia)Wildlife EnforcementWildlife Smuggling |
Author: Chng, Serene C.L. Title: Escalating Black Spotted Turtle Geoclemys Hamiltonii Trade in Asia: A Study of Seizures Summary: Illegal international trade of the Black Spotted Turtle in Asia has escalated over recent years and immediate action is required to stem the flow, a new TRAFFIC report has found. The attractive spotted visage of the Black Spotted Turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii may well be its downfall. The species is known to be traded for meat, medicine and pets, although TRAFFIC's research attributes the sudden rise in demand to the exotic pet trade. Over 1,960 animals were seized between January 2008 and March 2014. Of these, 95 per cent were confiscated in the final 15 months of that period. A seizure of another 230 turtles on May 14th underscored the seriousness of the threat. Royal Thai Customs officers in Suvarnabhumi International Airport found the turtles packed in unclaimed bags which had come in on a flight from Kolkata, India. Seizure information indicates that shipments of the turtles from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan transit through South-east Asian hubs such as Bangkok and are destined for East Asia, in particular Hong Kong. Most of the seizures are from passengers using commercial airlines concealing animals in their baggage. The majority of couriers caught were arrested but only two of the 22 cases recorded resulted in successful prosecutions. "Enforcement authorities' efforts to detect and apprehend smugglers are commendable, but a lack of follow-on investigations and prosecution is undoing their good work," said Dr Chris R Shepherd, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia. The Black Spotted Turtle is protected under national laws in its range countries and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). All commercial international trade in this species is illegal. The report (PDF, 1.1 MB) recommends improving enforcement and prosecution through multilateral and multi-agency coordination. Timely and detailed reporting of seizures to the CITES Secretariat and in the media, together with the outcomes of successful prosecutions, are also urged. "Wildlife enforcement networks already exist in South and South-east Asia, but given the transnational operations of the criminal networks they are up against, the challenge is to ensure a fully co-ordinated global enforcement response to their activities is delivered," said Dr Yannick Kuehl, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in East and South Asia Next week, Viet Nam hosts the 9th Meeting of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network in Hanoi, at which Strategic Action Plan Development will be discussed, alongside the Special Investigations Group approach on key wildlife trafficking issues linking South-east Asia and other trading partners. "TRAFFIC hopes our targeted analysis of trafficking routes will assist the region's Wildlife Enforcement Networks in planning enforcement actions aimed at breaking the lines of supply and demand," said Shepherd. TRAFFIC's findings were released today, World Turtle Day, to highlight the plight of the Black Spotted Turtle and many other species of turtles worldwide, particularly those in Asia which are under threat mainly from habitat loss and over-exploitation for food, medicine and the exotic pet trade. "Turtle species are seriously threatened - nowhere more so than in Asia with 17 of the 25 most critically endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles on the IUCN Red List found in the region," said James Tallant, Senior Programme Officer - Species, IUCN Natural Resources Group, Asia. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, 2014. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 20, 2018 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/5/23/alarming-rise-in-black-spotted-turtle-trade-across-asia.html Year: 2014 Country: Asia URL: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/5/23/alarming-rise-in-black-spotted-turtle-trade-across-asia.html Shelf Number: 149537 Keywords: Endangered SpeciesIllegal TradeSmugglingTurtlesWildlife CrimeWildlife Enforcement |
Author: Morgan, John Title: Slow and Steady: The Global Footprint of Jakarta's Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Trade Summary: TRAFFIC has been monitoring the trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles in Jakarta's markets, exotic pet shops and at wild animal exhibitions (expos) for more than a decade. The two resulting TRAFFIC reports in 2007 and 2011 revealed that trade in Jakarta was widespread and that a large proportion consisted of illegal trade. Subsequently, TRAFFIC carried out additional surveys of tortoises and freshwater turtles in Jakarta in 2015. This four-month study, aimed to document the trade in Jakarta's markets and pet shops to re-assess the situation in terms of illegal and unsustainable trade. These data were compared to previous TRAFFIC surveys to assess fluctuations and trends over the past decade. During weekly visits to seven locations (comprising three pet stores, two animal markets and two tropical fish markets), and single visits to three reptile expos, all known to be dealing in reptiles, a total of 4985 individuals of 65 different species of tortoise and freshwater turtles were recorded. As time spent in the shops was limited to avoid arousing suspicion, the identification of individual tortoise and freshwater turtle specimens over the survey period was not possible, and therefore the total number of individuals on sale could potentially be an overestimate. Nevertheless, numbers of individuals provided for any given week and the total number of species identified are accurate. Numbers of tortoises and freshwater turtles observed per week ranged from 92 to 983, with a mean of 383 individuals. Only 15 of the species observed were native to Indonesia, of which three were nationally protected. Non-native species made up 7% of individuals on sale, with species originating from Africa (6 species), Asia (), Europe (4), Madagascar (3), North America (16) and South America (7). Almost half (32 of 65) of the species observed on sale were categorized in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as being threatened with extinction. Nine species recorded (one of which was native) are currently listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix I, where commercial international trade is prohibited, meaning at least eight of these species were likely to have been illegally imported. A further 27 species were listed in Appendix II and five in Appendix III. With 41 CITES-listed species observed during the surveys, 10 of which were native species and therefore may not appear in the United Nations Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) CITES Trade database because records there are restricted to international trade transactions, and ten of which do appear in the database, 21 species (involving 1758 animals) still remain unaccounted for, suggesting they were brought into the country through illegal means. However, as the UNEP-WCMC database requires a minimum of two years to be updated it is possible that the records are still incomplete. A retrospective analysis of discrepancies between CITES trade records and trade observations from the two previous TRAFFIC surveys in 2004 and 2010, reveal that at least 15 of these CITES-listed nonnative species, involving a minimum of 727 animals, are suspected to have been imported illegally. The findings from the 2015 survey show that more species were found on sale than in the previous two TRAFFIC surveys, as well as more non-native, CITES-listed and threatened species. Numbers of native Indonesian species, both protected and non-protected, have stayed fairly constant since the 2010 survey (14 in 2010 and 15 in 2015). While this does not directly indicate larger volumes of species are being traded compared to previous years, the fact that more species were on display reveals either a change in preference among buyers for more novel species or better trade connections between Indonesian traders and a wider variety of suppliers worldwide. Clearly, efforts to curb the unsustainable and at traders and a wider variety of suppliers worldwide. Clearly, efforts to curb the unsustainable and at times illegal trade in tortoises and freshwater turtles are either insufficient or ineffective. The high number of non-native species offered for sale is facilitated by a long-standing legislative problem in Indonesia, namely, Indonesian law does not regulate domestic trade in any non-native species, including those listed by CITES, once they have crossed the Custom's boundary into Indonesian territory. This legal loophole hampers any law enforcement to counter illegal trade in these non-native species. Furthermore, existing laws covering native protected species are seldom enforced effectively, and traders are rarely prosecuted to the full extent possible under the law: thus illegal trade continues largely uninhibited given the lack of regulation and deterrence. The conservation of many tortoise and freshwater turtle species recorded in these surveys depends in part on the effectiveness of Indonesia's approach to tackling trafficking and market availability; this applies equally to native and non-native species. Details: Southeast Asia Regional Office, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 2018. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 2, 2018 at: https://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27865373/1521988425807/Jakartas-Tortoise-and-Freshwater-turtle-trade-web.pdf?token=pcanRKCjUQWp67U%2FakdZK5EB%2BzA%3D Year: 2018 Country: Indonesia URL: https://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27865373/1521988425807/Jakartas-Tortoise-and-Freshwater-turtle-trade-web.pdf?token=pcanRKCjUQWp67U%2FakdZK5EB%2BzA%3D Shelf Number: 149654 Keywords: Endangered SpeciesTortoisesTrafficking in WildlifeTurtlesWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |