Turtles in Crisis

Centuries old Chinese trade routes spread like fingers throughout Asia bringing the fauna of the continent into their food markets. By now, we are accustomed to seeing images of these animals horrifically mistreated while waiting to be sold for food, traditional Chinese medicines or in the rare instance to be released as a good luck omen. What is new here is that the trade in turtles and tortoises, most of which have been captured in the wild, has become massive. When the Chinese currency recently became convertible, it made turtles and tortoises a cash commodity, putting demand pressure on supplies in other Asian countries, who until then, had used the turtles for their own local consumption.

Considerations and Implications of the Food Markets
In order to meet the increased demand from China, harvesting methods of wild turtles and tortoises had to be successful enough to achieve commercial feasibility. Apparently successful enough that in 1996, 7,716,000 pounds (3.5 million kg.) of turtles were imported and consumed in Hong Kong alone. The most common turtle found in this market was Mauremys mutica. Averaging 2 ½ pounds (1.2 kg.) each, that equals well over 3 million turtles in one year (Bosco Chan, pers. com. report to TRAFFIC Hong Kong, in preparation). However, the markets are indiscriminate as to species, and include 80 pound (36 kg.) adult Orlitia borneensis and 31/2 ounce (100 gram) Geomyda spengleri, so the number of turtles in absolute terms varies. In 1993 approximately 200,000 – 300,000 individual turtles and tortoises were exported from the Cau Mong market in Ho Chi Minh City. Approximately 100,000 of these were Indotestudo elongata (Jenkins 1995).

Harvesting methods for the food markets are as varied as the species found in the markets themselves. Turtles are speared, netted, trapped, caught with hook and line, and dug out of the mud during low water periods or while aestivating. Dogs and pit traps are used for many of the forest floor dwelling turtles including Cuora galbinifrons, Heosemys spinosa, Indotestudo elongata and Pyxidea mouhotii. Platysternon are captured on lines using baited straight pins (C. Hansen pers.com.)

However, in order to gauge the thoroughness of the destruction of the turtles of Asia we must consider the three prong attack on the river turtles; the collection of adults, harvesting of eggs and destruction of habitat. This for example, has led to a reduction of Batagur baska in peninsular Malaysia by over 90% in the last century (Jenkins 1995).

The situation in Thailand is certainly no better. Maxwell (1911) calculated 2,600 Batagur baska and Kachuga trivittata nesting communally in the Ayeyarwady river delta in 1890. By 1899 this population was down to 820, while in 1982 the same area accounted for “only a few”. Most recently, a United Nations Development Program found none (van Dijk 1997).

Callagur borneensis, Batagur baska, Kachuga trivattata and the larger riverine softshell species are captured by a technique that targets nesting females. Lines of hemp or nylon are suspended several inches above the riverbanks between poles stuck in the sand so the line runs parallel to the water line. From this line dangle fish hooks which snag the turtles as they cross under the wire to nest and imprisons them while they await collection by the turtle hunters. This technique effectively removes the breeding females from the populations. Eggs are harvested from the few nests that are managed by females eluding the hooks. More recent perils to these species include “sand mining” and dam construction. Dams alter water height, eliminating nesting sites and in some cases precluding access to the shoreline altogether. The sandy riverbanks, which serve as traditional communal nesting sites are literally being scooped out and removed. As the need for sand for construction increases so does the destruction of the habitats themselves affecting all the wildlife, including turtles.

Harvesting for the food markets is by no means limited to professionals. Local peoples are also able to cash in utilizing the ubiquitous “reverse pet shops”. In the villages and hamlets of the Asian countryside, these shops purchase animals of all sorts from the local peoples who collect turtles and tortoises whenever they are encountered. From these shops the turtles and tortoises make their way to the middlemen who then transport them across borders if necessary into the larger Asian and Chinese cites. Mislabeled as seafood, the turtles and tortoises are stacked in wooden crates violating International Air Transport Association (IATA) shipping regulations. They are also hauled over land in buses and trucks. These journeys can take up to several weeks. The trade in turtles is brisk, highly developed and ignored by border guards, customs officials and airline personnel on both the export and import sides of the Asian borders


by James E. Barzyk