Dear All,

I hope you find the press release below from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, of interest and relevance. If not, please let me apologise in advance.

Illegal pet trade threatens freshwater turtles and tortoises—TRAFFIC

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8 January 2008—An increasing demand for exotic freshwater turtles and tortoises in Southeast Asia is fuelling rampant illegal trade in the pet markets of Indonesia, according to a report released today by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

TRAFFIC investigators undertook surveys of pet markets in Jakarta and found 48 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises for sale, the vast majority of them illegally obtained.

They included all six of Indonesia’s fully protected freshwater turtles and five non-native species listed in Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), meaning that all commercial international trade is prohibited. TRAFFIC found that CITES-listed species were more expensive than non-listed species, but noted they were no harder to obtain.

“The open trade in protected species indicates a lack of enforcement effort and blatant disregard for the law,” says Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia and leading author of the new report, An overview of the regulation of the freshwater turtle and tortoise pet trade in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Enforcement of CITES and national regulations is challenging, as individuals involved in wildlife crime are often well organised, but dealers admitted to TRAFFIC that freshwater turtles and tortoises are smuggled in and out of Indonesia with ease.

“TRAFFIC encourages the Government of Indonesia to ensure combatting wildlife crime is given high priority, and that every effort is made to clamp down on the criminals involved in it,” says Shepherd.

He adds that people buying illegally sourced animals should also be made fully aware they are contributing to the demise of wild populations.

Large numbers of freshwater turtles and tortoises are harvested in Indonesia, with no scientific research carried out to determine the impact on wild populations.

The report recommends the Indonesian authorities should reduce or even stop the freshwater turtle and tortoise trade, until scientifically sound harvest quotas can be determined and implemented.

ENDS
For more information, please contact: Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC Southeast Asia (in Malaysia) tel: +603 78803940, email: cstsea@po.jaring.my

Regards
Richard

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Dr Richard Thomas
Communications Co-ordinator
TRAFFIC International
richard.thomas@traffic.org
+44 1223 279068

TRAFFIC - the wildlife trade monitoring network
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thanks for your useful information. anyway, can i know what kinds that found?

yes i heard about this too. i support this action. i even really have the intention to work for WWF and protect all those endangered species since i'm still a kid. i was so shocked and really inspired to work with WWF because when i was a kid i saw this TV show about animal. they showed there's this native people (somewhere i don't remember) were "butchering" a sea turtle. man it was so cruel.......

hi newbie, i'll try to fill up the question you send for Richard:
1. Carettochelys Insculpta
2. Graptemys Nigrinoda
3. Geochelone Radiata
4. Geochelone Gigantea
5. ........

that's my guess for now.

what about geochelone nigra? i thought the tort is really endangered population now.

hey, i also intend to work with WWF.. what a luck.. haha..

[quote=ngumpet]
yes i heard about this too. i support this action. i even really have the intention to work for WWF and protect all those endangered species since i'm still a kid. i was so shocked and really inspired to work with WWF because when i was a kid i saw this TV show about animal. they showed there's this native people (somewhere i don't remember) were "butchering" a sea turtle. man it was so cruel.......



Wholesale illegal trading is horrific and should be stopped in any way possible. but as for eating native species, that practice is as old as man.

As horrible as that sounds it is hard to judge natives for what they eat. Many of them (natives) might starve if not for the native species of flora and fauna. Do we know what else is available for them?

In china they eat live monkey brains...
In the Phillipines they literally wok dogs...
In Japan they eat live fish...
Starving people eat other people...

Have you ever seen how we butcher hogs in this country? It's not pretty.

I'm not on a soapbox nor am I a vegetarian, however I will not judge what other peoples eat, except where it is considered a delicacy like turtle soup, birdsnest soup, caviar, etc. We need to show them alternatives and educate, educate, educate.

Lynn