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Texas Turtles Shell-Shocked by Trade
 Texas
Turtles Shell-Shocked by Trade
TPWD may ban exploitation, shielding Texas
turtles from global appetites, pet trade.
by Greg Harman, Education & Advocacy Coordinator
With turtle populations throughout Asia thoroughly
ravaged for their prized flesh, foreign food vendors have
turned to Texas to satisfy the increasingly affluent Chinese
market. Even as three of every four native Asian turtles are
threatened with extinction, a silent trade in turtles —
for both pets and meat — has grown in the Lone Star
State.
Designated "non-game" animals, Texas
turtles have been long overlooked by state regulators. Overlooked,
that is, until the reality of the global market came calling.
Local biologists, backyard naturalists, and
nature lovers began their campaigns to save our declining
turtles populations years ago, but Texas Parks & Wildlife
Commissioners are only now acknowledging the real threat of
becoming the new Asia — as far as turtles are concerned.
To prevent that, Commissioners have proposed
a complete ban on the turtle trade. If approved at their May
24 meeting, Texas will join the states of Alabama, Maryland,
Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee in commercial bans.
 "We
must take every action in our power to protect this all–too-often
forgotten community of wildlife," said Lynn Cuny, founder
and executive director of Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation.
"These silent and gentle creatures deserve our protection.
We must act today to ensure their future in the wilds of this
state that has for eons been their home."
Since turtles mature later in life —
sometimes taking a decade or more to breed — they are
especially vulnerable to aggressive hunting practices.
Officials don't have precise data on the
trade in Texas turtles, but it is believed that as many as
100,000 native Texas turtles are collected and shipped from
the state each year. The exotic pet trade plays a significant
role, too, as vast numbers of 14 different Texas species fill
aquariums around the world.
Intense suffering is inherent in this exploitive
system, with turtles packed atop each other in large crates
as they are shipped around the world without concern for the
pain and death this generates. Many turtles are crushed by
the weight of their peers.
Once they arrive at market, many are hung
by holes in their shells — which are living, feeling
bone — to show them off to the public, according to
the Gulf Coast Turtle & Tortoise Society.
Unfortunately, the Commissioners' plan to
protect turtles does not extend to other "non-game"
animals similarly exploited by the exotic food and pet trades.
The majority of our lizards, snakes, amphibians, and a good
number of ground-dwelling mammals are still considered fair
game to these unscrupulous "collectors."
You Can Help…
Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation urges
each of you to speak out for Texas turtles. Write the Commissioners
to put your comments on the record. Comments may be e-mailed
to robert.macdonald@tpwd.state.tx.us,
or submitted by mail to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department,
4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744.
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