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

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Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011Chinese Three-striped Box Turtle, Golden Coin TurtleCuora trifasciata (Bell 1825); Family GeoemydidaeAsia: China (Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong), Laos, VietnamIUCN Red List: CR, Critically Endangered A1d+2dCITES: Appendix II, as Cuora spp.Distribution of Cuora trifasciata.Cuora trifasciata from Hong Kong. Photo by Paul Crow.Cuora trifasciata is one of the oldest knownmembers of the genus, being the second one described,by Bell in 1825. The species reaches upto 32 cm shell length and the carapace is chestnutbrownwith three longitudinal black stripes, givingthe species its scientific name; the plastron isblack and the head golden yellow with black linesand a brown blotch behind each eye.This species has a long history of usage intraditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese namefor this species is Golden Coin Turtle; the word‘turtle’ in Chinese has the same sound as the wordfor ‘return’ and hence it is often kept by people tobring good luck because its name suggests goldcoins will return. Recently, some traders claimedthat consuming jellies and extracts from this turtlewas capable of curing cancer, and this partly resultedin an enormous increase in its commercialvalue, with animals now selling for many thousandsof dollars each. Because of its high value,the species is currently being farmed by the thousands andthere is also a demand for breeding stock. Unfortunately, itssupposedly magical curing power and its extremely highvalue driven by trade and the demand of breeding farms hasled to its demise in the wild. While populations previouslyseemed to tolerate low-volume collection for centuries, thelast three decades of intense collecting and massive habitatdestruction and degradation have brought the species to thebrink of extinction in the wild.The species was once distributed throughout the hillstreams and marshes in low- to mid-elevation forests of thesouthern Chinese Provinces of Fujian, Hong Kong, Guangdong,Hainan, and Guangxi, but has now been largely extirpatedfrom most of its former habitat.Some regard Vietnamese and Laotian populations ofThree-striped Box Turtles as a separate species, Cuora cyclornata,but this interpretation is not currently widely accepted.If this potential taxonomic split were to gain scientificacceptance, then the distribution and population size ofeach of the two species would be even more precarious thanpreviously feared. Complicating this further is that some populationsseem to show a hybrid origin and commercial farmsusually produce a mixture of different genetic lineages.Less than 10 specimens per year are still encountered onthe Chinese mainland, with a last stronghold in Hong Kong,where in recent years illegal trapping has led to a sharp decline.Prices have skyrocketed to USD 20,000 being paidfor an adult wild caught male, since the farms so far onlyproduce females because of high incubation temperatures.Furthermore, wild-caught animals are said to have more curativemedicinal powers. In recent years, owning this speciesseems to have become a kind of investment and status symbolin China.Due to the high demand and value of this species, itssurvival in the wild is unlikely without effective protection.The targeted protection of the last remaining populationsand increased breeding efforts of genetically pure groups,as carried out jointly by Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Gardenand Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department,Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government,are important to preserve the future of this species. Additionally,the maintenance of ex-situ assurance colonies suchas the one at the International Turtle Center at Zoo Münster,Germany, partially supported by the Shellshock Campaignof the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and theTurtle Conservation Fund, is critically important in order tomaintain options for possible future repatriation efforts.– 26 –
Turtles in Trouble: Top 25+ Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles—2011Ploughshare Tortoise, AngonokaAstrochelys yniphora (Vaillant 1885); Family TestudinidaeAfrica: MadagascarIUCN Red List: CR, Critically Endangered A4ad, B2ab(v), C1, ECITES: Appendix IThis large and strikingly beautifultortoise is one of the rarest tortoises inthe world. Males of this species havean elongated plough-shaped front spikecomprised of the gular scute emergingfrom the plastron. Males use this projectionin breeding jousts aimed at flippingover their opponents in an attemptto demonstrate male dominance and theopportunity to mate with females.Evidence that this species was tradedby Arabs dates back as far as the 8thcentury and since then Ploughshare Tortoiseswere collected to provision ships,particularly European. More recentlytheir declines have been the result ofwildfires, deforestation, and most importantly,extraordinary pressure frompoaching for the illegal pet trade. Althoughthis species has received conservationattention since the 1970s,and intensively since the 1990s, thereare now only a few hundred adult andsubadult animals estimated to survive in the wild. Thoughcertainly without the conservation attention it has receivedit is unlikely that this species would still exist in the wild.Today the species can only be found in five geographicallyisolated populations within a tiny area of dry scrubland innorthwestern Madagascar, encompassed within the boundariesof Baly Bay National Park, created in 1998.A captive breeding facility for the Ploughshare Tortoise,managed by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust forthe Malagasy Government, exists at Ampijoroa, Madagascar,a reintroduction program is in progress at Baly Bay,and field-based research on the species has been conductedover the years. Local enforcement capacity from parkand village patrols is somewhat limited and under severeDistribution of Astrochelys yniphora.Astrochelys yniphora female from Baly Bay N.P., Madagascar. Photo by Anders G.J. Rhodin.pressure from poachers. Recent political unrest in Madagascarhas led to increased poaching activities, with manyspecimens of this rare species showing up in Asian markets.Single individuals can sell for around USD 10,000as pets on the international black market, and these highprices create great incentives to poach the remaining wildanimals. There are many Ploughshare Tortoises held illegallyin Asia, but international efforts aimed at curbingthe illegal high-end pet trade are beginning to gain sometraction.For this impressive and unique animal to continue toexist in the wild it is imperative to reinforce effective andreliable enforcement patrols inside and outside the coreprotected and reintroduction areas. Durrell Wildlife ConservationTrust and the Turtle Conservancy have begun aninitiative in partnership that is making proper patrol boats,fuel, and other resources continually available. Full-timeon-site research programs need to be continued as an independentpresence and monitoring system to keep closewatch on what is happening to the animals and to act asa deterrent to poachers. In addition, increased efforts areneeded to enforce legal protection and to prosecute thosewho are driving the illegal trade, both nationally and internationally.The many animals now held illegally need to bemoved into multiple secure captive breeding programs inorder to prepare for anticipated repatriation as protectionimproves within the species’ native habitat.– 27 –
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