Turtles in Trouble: The World's 25+ Most Endangered - Wildlife ...

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Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011McCord’s Box TurtleCuora mccordi Ernst 1988; Family GeoemydidaeAsia: China (Guangxi)IUCN Red List: CR, Critically Endangered A1d+2dCITES: Appendix II, as Cuora spp.Cuora mccordi is a yellow-headed andchestnut-brown-shelled member of the Asianbox turtle genus Cuora that became known toscience during the early 1980s. It was finallydescribed as a new species in 1988. The speciesreaches carapace lengths of up to 23 cm.Despite its description based on specimenspurchased in the market of Bose, a smaller cityin western Guangxi Province, southern China,the species’ habitat and distribution remainedunknown for two decades. This raised speculationthat the species might just be a hybridof Cuora trifasciata x Cuora flavomarginata,but genetics substantiated that it is a valid andgenetically distinct species.It was not until 2005 that a team of scientistsdiscovered the species’ native habitatin Guangxi, at a time when the species wasalready nearly gone from the wild. In 2008 adetailed study of the habitat showed that thespecies is semiaquatic and inhabits bamboo and broadleafedforests in an area of less than 50 km². This speciesis usually hidden, dug into the soil or below plants whereit is well camouflaged with its brown carapace. Unfortunatelythis does not camouflage the species from humancollection. In the 1970s, while still unknown to science,local villagers used the turtles instead of stones tothrow at their buffaloes since they were easier to find thanstones in the area. Around this same time, villagers triedto produce turtle jelly from them, but the taste was not asgood as the jelly produced from C. trifasciata. In the early1980s a well-known Hong Kong turtle dealer appeared intheir village and started to pay them for collecting theseturtles for him. At first he offered just a few cents, butgradually the price increased as the species became rarer,caused by the collecting pressure as well as destruction oftheir habitat. In the 2000s, a villager could earn as muchCuora mccordi from China in captivity. Photo by Torsten Blanck.as USD 4000 for a single specimen, more than a yearlyincome in this area. In 2008, a male specimen, one of thelast ones remaining, was sold in Guangzhou, GuangdongProvince, China for USD 20,000. Surveys conducted in2009 discovered only one specimen in the wild and in2010 no specimens were observed, indicating probableextirpation in the wild.Approximately 350 specimens have entered the trade;most of them ending up in western collections. Due to limitedknowledge of the species, only about 150 are still alivetoday and are reproducing well in captivity. Conservation effortsfor this species require the formation and managementof better breeding groups to increase reproductive output. Inaddition, conservation of the remaining habitat is required sothat in the future this species can hopefully be reintroducedto its native habitats. Efforts at establishing an in-situ breedingproject in China are also being considered.Distribution of Cuora mccordi.Cuora mccordi hatched in captivity. Photo by Torsten Blanck.– 24 –
Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011Yellow-headed Box TurtleCuora aurocapitata Luo and Zong 1988; Family GeoemydidaeAsia: China (Anhui)IUCN Red List: CR, Critically Endangered A1d+2dCITES: Appendix II, as Cuora spp.Cuora aurocapitata is a highlyaquatic member of its genus, reachingcarapace lengths of up to 18cm. Similar to most of the Cuora,it is sexually dimorphic, with malessmaller than females; in additionmales are comparatively flatter thanfemales with longer, thicker tails.This species once thrived in the fastflowing hillside streams in the highlandsof southern Anhui Province,eastern China, where it preyed uponshrimp, insects, and small fish. Similarto many of the recently describedCuora, its scientific description in1988 helped accelerate its demise.It took until 2004 for scientists tofind the species in the wild for thefirst time. While already collectedand consumed by local villagers forcenturies, the pet trade became interestedin this bright yellow-headedspecies with its nice grayish carapacewith reddish and brown blotchesshortly after its description. This ledto uncontrolled collection. By the late 1990s the populationapparently collapsed, not only due to overharvesting, butalso pollution and destruction of its habitat. It was nevercommon and is highly endemic, only occurring in threeriver systems of the southern Anhui mountain ranges. Bothwestern and Chinese collections now hold more specimensthan are left in the wild. Current estimates of its statusin the wild range between 50–150 animals. Although thespecies is breeding in increasing numbers in captivity, themortality of wild-caught animals has been high.Ongoing hydroelectric damming of the hill streamsin its native habitat is destroying the nesting beaches andCuora aurocapitata female from a turtle farm in Anhui, China. Photo by Gerald Kuchling.opening up previously remote stream and forest areas toexploitation; dynamite and poison fishing kills both turtlesand their prey, and pollution and collection for theturtle trade do the rest. Following this trend, the speciesis predicted to be extinct in the wild in less than 5 years.An international team supported by the Turtle SurvivalAlliance and Turtle Conservation Fund is working to preventimminent extinction through the use of local awarenesscampaigns, recovering destroyed nesting beaches,and trying to protect the last remaining remote habitats inwhich a few animals still seem to occur.Distribution of Cuora aurocapitata.Cuora aurocapitata in captivity. Photo by Cris Hagen.– 25 –
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