Turtles in Demand as Pets, Leading to Increase in Poaching
2022-11-21
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1A growing demand for turtles as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching.
2Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally.
3Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles and tortoises.
4Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.
5More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.
6The CITES meeting runs from November 14 to 25.
7Exact numbers on the turtle trade, especially illegal trade, can be hard to find.
8Tara Easter, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, studies the trade.
9She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
10She 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.
11And she estimated that the trade in musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.
12The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles is a group of mostly state, federal and tribal biologists working to combat poaching of North American turtles.
13Since 2018, the group has documented at least 30 major illegal trafficking cases in 15 states.
14Some involved fewer than 50 turtles.
15Other cases involved several thousand turtles.
16Earlier 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 violation of the Lacey Act.
17The law bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, held, transported, or sold.
18The man trafficked 722 eastern box turtles, 122 spotted turtles, and three wood turtles for markets in Asia.
19The man received more than $120,000 for the turtles, which have a value of $1.5 million in Asia.
20Freshwater turtles are among the world's most trafficked animals.
21They are targeted by criminal networks that connect with buyers on the internet.
22They transport the reptiles to black markets in Hong Kong and other places in Asia.
23From there, they are sold as pets, to collectors, and for breeding, food, and traditional medicine.
24In many countries, there are no laws to govern the trade.
25The business can be highly profitable. Some kinds of turtles are sought out for their colorful or unusual appearance.
26They can be sold for thousands of dollars in Asia.
27The trade adds to the threats turtles already face, including climate change, environment destruction and other animals eating their eggs.
28Experts say poachers are even more problematic because they target rare kinds of turtles and adult females.
29"The loss of large numbers of adults, especially females, can send turtles into a spiraling decline from which they cannot recover," said Dave Collins.
30He is director of North American turtle conservation for the Turtle Survival Alliance.
31The United States and several Latin American countries have proposed banning or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species.
32In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated from 2010 to 2022.
33To confiscate means to take something away from someone to enforce laws or rules.
34The illegal trade has also led governments to propose listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES - including North American musk turtles.
35A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.
36Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior.
37He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama.
38He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles "really, really important."
39"We've seen this pattern of turtles being depleted in one place, and then poachers and traffickers and traders moving to another place," Strickler said.
40"Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas."
41I'm Caty Weaver. And I'm Gregory Stachel.
1A 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. 2Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles and tortoises. 3Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles. 4More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES. The CITES meeting runs from November 14 to 25. 5Exact numbers on the turtle trade, especially illegal trade, can be hard to find. 6Tara 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 musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016. 7Smuggling of turtles 8The Collaborative to Combat the Illegal Trade in Turtles is a group of mostly state, federal and tribal 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. 9Earlier 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 violation of the Lacey Act. The law bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants that are illegally taken, held, transported, or sold. 10The man trafficked 722 eastern box turtles, 122 spotted 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. 11Illegal trafficking 12Freshwater 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 reptiles 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. 13The 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. 14The trade adds to the threats turtles already face, including climate change, environment destruction and other animals eating their eggs. 15Experts say poachers are even more problematic because they target rare kinds of turtles and adult females. 16"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. 17Government protection 18The 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 confiscated from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate means to take something away from someone to enforce laws or rules. 19The 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. 20Matthew 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." 21"We've seen this pattern of turtles being depleted 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." 22I'm Caty Weaver. And I'm Gregory Stachel. 23Michael Casey reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 24_____________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26turtle - n. a reptile that lives mostly in water and that has a hard shell which covers its body 27pet - n. an animal (such as a dog, cat, bird, or fish) that people keep mainly for pleasure 28tortoise - n. a kind of turtle that lives on land 29tribe - n. a group of people that includes many families and relatives who have the same language, customs, and beliefs 30combat - v. to try to stop (something) from happening or getting worse 31traffic - v. to buy or sell something especially illegally 32sentence - v. to officially state the punishment given to (someone) by a court of law 33breed - v. to keep and take care of animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind 34spiral - v. to greatly increase, decrease, or get worse in a continuous and usually fast and uncontrolled way 35deplete - v. to use most or all of (something important): to greatly reduce the amount of (something) 36______________________________________________________________ 37What do you think of the poaching of turtles? 38We want to hear from you. 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