turtles, tortoises face extinction

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New Straits Times - 5th April 2004

 

SINGAPORE: Turtles, tortoises face extinction

AFP

 

SINGAPORE, Apr 4:

 

Southeast Asia is home to the most diverse range of turtles and tortoises in

the world, but half of the species are critically endangered, regional

zoologists working to protect them said.

 

Fifteen million turtles and tortoises disappear from around the region each

year as they fall victim to a lucrative trade that is fuelled by a high

demand for their use as pets and for human consumption.

 

" There are 90 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises in the region and

the majority of them are in dire straits, " Singapore Zoological Gardens

senior assistant curator Francis Lim said last week.

 

" I would say as many as half of these species are critically endangered. "

Zoologists from Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Hong Kong

and Sri Lanka joined Lim in Singapore last week for a first-ever regional

workshop to discuss ways to protect and care for the turtles and tortoises.

 

A hot topic of discussion was the illegal trade in wild turtles and

tortoises, with the zoologists warning much of it was going unchecked and

open to corruption.

 

Veterinarian Karn Lekagul, from the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, said tens of

thousands of turtles were smuggled through Thailand each year.

 

" There is a trade of turtles from Indonesia and Malaysia through Thailand

and to Cambodia, Laos, and possibly China, " Karn said, adding that laws

governing the trade needed to be tightened.

 

" We have caught some of the smugglers but I think the law is too lax. " His

comments were echoed by Lim, who said the seizure two years ago at Changi

Airport of 2,300 star tortoises that had been smuggled from India was just

the tip of the iceberg.

 

" There needs to be policing, more stringent enforcement of laws and heavier

penalties for smugglers. In Singapore the penalties are still too light, not

a strong enough deterrent. " The zoologists said confiscating turtles and

tortoises from smugglers often caused further problems.

 

Karn said in Thailand, government authorities frequently mishandled the

confiscated animals.

 

" We have seen instances of officials not knowing any better and dumping the

animals, " he said.

 

" Sometimes they see they are land turtles, so they release them into a

forest. But there are many types of forests and some turtles can't live in

that type. " If they reach a zoo instead, other problems arise.

 

" When 2,000 tortoises land on our lap it really stretches out our

facilities, " Lim said.

 

" It's the same problem faced by other countries. (There is a lack of)

facilities, manpower and funds. " The issue of handling confiscated turtles

was a key focus of last week's workshop, with William Holmstrom from the

Wildlife Conservation Society of New York giving expert advice to the

zoologists.

 

" When they're collected for the market they're held in big bins, they're

piled up on top of each other. They're held sometimes for weeks or months

before they reach the final destination and so many of them are very sick, "

Holmstrom said.

 

" So what we try to do is give people the tools to evaluate the turtles that

they receive from these confiscations and help the ones they can and

distribute them to places where they can be cared for or ideally released. "

Aside from the trade of these animals for pets, Lim said the belief within

some Asian communities that turtle meat had medicinal value had also fuelled

the trade.

 

" Sometimes they are consumed as an aphrodisiac, sometimes it's because of

health, for example to lower the blood pressure. Some, like the golden coin

turtle, they believe consumption will bring them good luck, " he said.

 

And sometimes they are eaten simply as a delicacy.

 

" If you go to the (Singapore) Chinatown wet market I think you can find the

Malayan River terrapin sold for turtle soup, " Lim said.

 

Holmstrom said dissuading people from eating turtles was extremely

difficult. — AFP

 

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