I have witnessed the large-scale trade of turtles, inspected turtle enclosures, visited some pet wholesalers and retailers, and I have exchanged opinions with many people involved in the reptile trade.
Wild turtles captured from the wild are often placed in boxes, sacks or wooden crates and transported to storage locations by car or truck. In storage areas, they are kept in crowded pens or in troughs containing debris, often without access to clean water. On the way to wholesalers and retailers, they will be stuffed into boxes or crates again, until finally arriving at pet stores, where they are usually kept in cramped and crowded tanks and fed only a small amount of food, less than the usual amount. Food necessary for survival.
When an independent, sun-loving creature is suddenly removed from the resting place where it has lived for perhaps ten years. Captured, stuffed into a box with other turtles, and exposed to turbid conditions for days or even weeks, exposed to high temperatures or cold, it is undoubtedly under tremendous pressure. This pressure often leads to the outbreak of various diseases. One person who has been involved in reptile distribution told me that he believes that the loss rate of wild box turtles from capture to arrival at the retailer is generally no less than 20%, and occasionally as high as 50%. And among those who survived, many were dehydrated or suffering from pneumonia, eye infections and nutritional deficiencies.
People who buy turtles in pet stores rarely realize that those animals are particularly nervous or suffering from diseases. As a herpetologist working for a university museum, I am often contacted by breeders who discover that their purchased turtles are suffering from disease. They generally don't planBe informed of the correct feeding methods first. By the time I see them, the turtles they raise often have no hope of recovery or can only be cured through expensive and corrosive veterinary surgery. It has been estimated that only 1 in 100 wild box turtles entered into the pet trade is still alive after two years. Nothing I saw made me doubt that number. Is this the right way to treat an animal that can live 50, 80, or even 100 years in its natural habitat?
What is involved here is not just an issue of animal welfare. The development and use of wild and intelligent materials, whether for communication, obtaining meat and fur, or as pets, are all based on this assumption. That is to say, this kind of reclamation and utilization is sustainable. In other words, humans play the role of carnivores in nature and capture the excess parts of the wild wildlife population. As time goes by, the victims can still maintain the safety of the population. But in the large-scale capture of wild turtles, can this hypothesis still be found? A set of data analysis based on long-term field scientific research provides us with the answer, no. Compared with all captured wild species, most turtles mature very slowly in order to maintain their adult longevity, and their sacrifice rates during hatching and larval growth are also high. Research shows that the annual mortality rate of box turtles must be lower than the annual birth rate to maintain the survival of their populations. In good natural habitats, the number of box turtles will gradually decrease over time, but any external factors that lead to a reduction in adult mortality will continue to shrink the population. Therefore, for box turtles in any location, there is actually no excess available for reclamation.
The large-scale use of wild turtles is undoubtedly not sustainable. For a variety of wild animals, including turtles, the loss of natural habitats is arguably the most important threat. However, this year, situations where recreational areas still exist but animal populations have disappeared have occurred from time to time, and the situation has been declining day by day. This situation shows that simple reclamation and utilization have also become a serious threat. Some turtles that were once considered safe, such as red-eared sliders, are now being caught in large numbers and shipped overseas as food. Do we really want those turtles native to our country to continue to flow from the natural resting environment into pet stores and food markets around the world?
There is much that turtle enthusiasts and professional herpetologists can do to keep wild populations safe. Such as stopping the purchase of wild turtles and only raising artificially grown species. Some species are easy to raise in artificial environments. Please remember that if you purchase a pet from a pet storeWith a wild turtle, what you are doing is not saving it from destruction, but rather encouraging the dealer to buy more. Write a letter asking all states to stop commercial exploitation of wild animals and join local or international animal protection organizations. If we really care about turtles, we should accept the ideal of taking our own lives and work hard to ensure the future of these wild animals.
The author of this article, Dr. Harding, is an expert at the Michigan State University Museum and has long been dedicated to field research on box turtles and wood-carved terrapins. , and therefore enjoys a high reputation.
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