China’s Obsession With Pet Turtles Threatens a Rare Philippine Species With Extinction

[Omaha Steve]

Thousands of Palawan forest turtles have been stolen despite the best efforts to protect them in the wild.



(Photo: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)


http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/10/15/china-s-obsession-pet-turtles-threatens-rare-philippine-species-extinction

OCT 15, 2015 John R. Platt covers the environment, technology, philanthropy, and more for Scientific American, Conservation, Lion, and other publications.


The images were horrifying: thousands upon thousands of rare turtles crammed in a shipping container on Palawan Island in the Philippines, piled up on top of one another, struggling to survive.

All told, more than 4,400 turtles were found in the container, which was intercepted and confiscated by Philippine officials in June before it could be shipped to China.

More than 3,900 of those sick and dehydrated animals were of a critically endangered species called the Palawan forest turtle, an animal that people thought was extinct until just a few years ago. Scientists do not know how many of the turtles survive in the wild, but conservationists fear the animals found in the container represented the majority of them.

Like many other turtle species, the Palawan forest turtle’s rarity has put a high price tag on its head. Collectors in China and other countries will pay a lot of money to keep the reptiles as pets. That promise of a lucrative payday creates quite an incentive for too many people in Palawan’s poor communities to collect the turtles for Chinese buyers.

FULL story at link. Video: http://video.takepart.com/previews/fjAWI1l3-kqXsAI7f