Papua Conservation

Familier dengan nama labi-labi? Hewan yang juga sering disebut bulus ini adalah jenis kura-kura bercangkang lunak atau penyu air tawar cangkang lunak. Ciri khasnya adalah bentuk tubuh oval atau agak bulat, tapi lebih pipih dan tanpa sisik. Warna labi-labi biasanya abu-abu sampai hitam, tergantung spesies.

Salah satu spesies labi-labi yang unik adalah jenis labi-labi moncong babi. Hewan dengan nama ilmiah Carettochelys insculpta ini dalam bahasa Inggris disebut sebagai pig-nosed turtle, plateless turtle, atau pitted-shell turtle.

Labi-labi moncong babi merupakan hewan endemik Papua dan tempat perlindungan terakhirnya berada di kawasan Taman Nasional Gunung Lorentz. Sayangnya, hewan unik ini juga tak lepas dari ancaman perburuan, perdagangan ilegal, hingga yang paling parah kepunahan.

Karakter labi-labi moncong babi

Tak serupa kura-kura air tawar lain, labi-labi moncong babi tidak memiliki kaki untuk bergerak. Sebagai gantinya, ia bergerak menggunakan sirip seperti penyu dan bisa berenang bebas. Ciri khas hewan ini, sesuai namanya, terletak pada hidung yang seperti babi. Bagian karapas atau cangkang bagian atas berwarna abu-abu dengan tekstur kasar, sedangkan plastron atau kulit keras yang melindungi bagian dadanya berwarna krem.

Labi-labi moncong babi jantan dan betina biasanya dibedakan dari panjang ekor dan ukuran tubuh. Jenis yang satu ini bisa tumbuh sampai sekitar 70 cm panjang karapas dengan berat lebih dari 20 kilogram. Ia dapat hidup di air tawar dan payau, kemudian mencari makan di pinggiran sungai, danau, dan muara.

Untuk makananya sendiri biasanya tanaman, buah-buahan, ikan, dan invertebrata karena termasuk hewan omnivora. Kebanyakan mereka mengonsumsi buah ara, kiwi, apel, pisang, udang, cacing, hingga anak tikus.

Jenis kura-kura ini berkembang biak selama musim kemarau antara bulan Agustus hingga Oktober setiap tahunnya menjadi musim bertelur. Usai melewati masa musim kawin dan memasuki masa bertelur, labi-labi betina akan keluar dari air untuk menyimpan telur di pangkal air.

Jenis kelamin labi-labi ini pun sangat dipengaruhi suhu di sekitarnya. Jika suhu menurun setengah derajat, biasanya akan lahir labi-labi jantan. Sebaliknya, labi-labi betina biasanya lahir saat suhu meningkat setengah derajat.

Penyebaran labi-labi moncong babi

Habitat yang disukai labi-labi moncong babi ialah daerah sungai, muara, laguna, danau, kolam, hingga rawa yang dikeliling hutan lebat. Selain di Papua, penyebaran satwa ini juga pernah ditemukan di Papua Nugini hingga Australia.

Seperti kura-kura lain di lokasi terpencil, labi-labi moncong babi juga dipercaya telah langka. Meski demikian, belum ada data jumlah populasi yang tepat saat ini. Diketahui Australia telah melindungi hewan ini dari eksploitasi, tetapi dari Papua Nugini nampaknya belum ada tindakan konservasi. Labi-labi ini pernah ditemukan di Jepang untuk dijual.

Kehidupan labi-labi moncong babi dewasa membutuhkan kolam atau aliran sungai yang besar. Sedangkan, individu yang lebih kecil bisa hidup di kolam-kolam kecil yang memiliki tanaman dan dan tempat persembunyian untuk tempat berlindung. Suhu air pun harus dijaga antara 26,1-30 derajat Celsius.

Tak hanya suhu, kualitas air pun penting dijaga dengan adanya sistem penyaring biologi. Ketika kualitas air buruk, labi-labi akan berisiko mengalami gangguan kulit dari jamur atau bakteri pada bagian karapasnya. Ia tidak butuh tempat berjemur khusus, tapi harus ada akses ke tanah untuk betina dewasa agar bisa bersarang dan bertelur. Dalam sekali bertelur, betina dewasa biasanya butuh masa inkubasi 60-70 hari dan bisa bertelur dari tujuh sampai 39 telur.

Berada di bawah ancaman punah

Labi-labi moncong babi dengan segala keunikannya rupanya berada di bawah ancaman, bahkan di habitat asalnya. Keberadaan hewan ini terancam oleh perdagangan satwa ilegal. Bahkan, telah mencapai ribuan labi-labi diselundupkan dari Papua hingga ke pasar internasional. Ia diperdagangkan untuk menjadi makanan eksotis hingga pengobatan tradisional di China.

Bahkan, ribuan telur pun telah diambil langsung dari alam secara ilegal untuk ditetaskan karena memang belum ada penangkaran khusus.

Padahal, status labi-labi moncong babi ini secara internasional sudah ada di daftar endangered atau terancam, dan tercatat dalam International Union Conservation Nature (IUCN). Status ini agaknya jadi pengingat kita bahwa dua tingkat lagi akan menuju kepunahan.

Bahkan, labi-labi ini juga sudah masuk kategori Appendix II oleh Convention International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). Artinya, spesies ini ada di daftar terancam punah bila perdagangan terus berlanjut tanpa adanya pengaturan yang jelas.

Di Indonesia sendiri, hewan tersebut masuk dalam daftar satwa dilindungi menurut Peraturan Menteri LHK No. 106/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/12/2018 tentang perubahan kedua atas Peraturan Menteri LHK Nomor P.20/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/6/2018 tentang jenis tumbuhan dan satwa yang dilindungi.

 

Sumber: www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id

ASIAN tortoises and freshwater turtles suffer greatly from illegal, unregulated trade, harvested to meet the demand for meat, use in traditional medicines, and for the pet trade. Somewhat worryingly, an increasing number of people worldwide are becoming more fascinated with keeping “exotic” pets.

Demand for these animals as pets comes from within a country where these species live, and abroad. One creature in trade internationally is the pig-nosed turtle, Carettochelys insculpta. Named for its its porcine snout, this turtle looks more like its sea-faring cousins with flippers similar to those of marine turtles.

It is found in only three countries, namely Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. And unfortunately, the rarer a creature is, the higher the premium attached to it commercially, attracting reptile enthusiasts and traffickers.

In a period of seven and a half years, researchers training their eyes on the trade in pig-nosed turtles identified 26 seizures totalling 52,374 smuggled turtles, occurring in or originating from Indonesia.

Monitor Conservation Research Society (MCRS) and the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group examined 2013-2020 seizures, looking at contemporary trade networks and hubs, mapped routes, assessed successful prosecutions, and in the process, flagged failures to utilise existing tools to better protect the species and anomalies in how legal trade in the species is permitted.

Indonesia emerged as the greatest source of the species entering illegal trade; Of the 52,374 turtles confiscated, 10,956 were seized in six separate trafficking incidents originating from Indonesia.

Amongst those countries was Malaysia, with two shipments intercepted by the authorities; one off Johor waters, with 3,300 individuals being smuggled by boat from Riau’s Bengkalis Island, Indonesia, while another, involving 4,000 turtles occurred off Sabah’s coast near Tawau.

This species used to be sold openly in pet stores but are now increasingly sold through social media apps. Until Malaysian laws catch up to include wildlife cybercrime, online traders will continue to exploit this loophole. Malaysia is also a transit point for the trade of pig-nosed turtles coming from Indonesia.

PUTTING TOOLS TO USE

Globally, a treaty called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) provides a means of regulating international trade in species threatened by trade, using a system of appendices.

The pig-nosed turtle is listed in Appendix II, which means trade is permitted only with required permits — but the individuals that were confiscated during the study period didn’t have any. Furthermore, it’s totally protected in Indonesia. Despite these legal protections, only nine of the 26 cases were successfully prosecuted, with the “success” arguable as none were to the full extent of the law: a maximum five-year prison sentence and a fine of US$7,132.

Offenders rarely received penalties close to the maximum — the highest prison sentence given was approximately half the potential maximum. As far as can be assessed, no one was charged for violations under the Customs Law (maximum penalty 10 years imprisonment and US$356,583 fine) or the Fisheries Act 31 (maximum penalty five years imprisonment and an US$106,975 fine).

“Indonesia has multiple tools in the form of legislation and regulations to serve as a strong deterrent, and ultimately to protect this species from over-exploitation,” says Dr Chris R. Shepherd, the study’s lead author, adding: “But tools are ineffectual if they’re not put to use.”

Protected species may be commercially traded in Indonesia if the specimens have been bred to a second generation in captivity, and only by traders with a license to breed these species. However, traders in Indonesia are known to abuse these regulations and launder wild-caught animals into the international market under the guise of being bred in captivity.

The possibility of bogus captive breeding operations, given the time and resources required in breeding pig-nosed turtles in captivity to the second generation, was also flagged in this recent study.

“In all likelihood, the turtles declared as captive-bred are all wild-caught or ranched, and falsely declared as being captive-bred to circumvent restrictions and enable export to countries where the checking of the source of the imported animals is lax,” points outsays Dr Vincent Nijman, the co-author of the study.

NEED FOR ROBUST STRATEGY

The authors also question how more than 5,000 pig-nosed turtles were exported as wild-caught, in direct violation of Indonesia’s own legislation, including 80 into the United States of America, in violation of the US Lacey Act.

The vast majority were destined for mainland China and Hong Kong. Elevating this species to Appendix I of Cites would assist the range states in obtaining stronger cooperation from other Cites Parties, as species listed in Cites I are generally prohibited from international commercial trade, and in some countries, penalties for trading in Appendix I listed species are often higher.

Clearly, Indonesia is in urgent need of a robust strategy to effectively tackle this trade along the trafficking chain. The country has legislation and infrastructure that should be utilised to punish the wildlife criminals, and ultimately, better protect the pig-nosed turtle.

Malaysians too have a role to play in ending the illegal trade in pig-nosed turtles. We need to come together to help raise awareness of this issue, and not be a part of the problem by buying pig-nosed turtles.

If we see pig-nosed turtles for sale, or know of someone keeping one as a pet, we have to report it to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks Hotline at 1-800-88-5151 (Mon-Fri office hours) or the 24-hour MYCAT Wildlife Crime Hotline at 019-356 4194.

It’s time to play our part!

Illegal wildlife trade, seizures and prosecutions: a 7-and-a-half-year analysis of trade in Pig-nosed Turtles Carettochelys insculpta in and from Indonesia by Chris R. Shepherd, Lalita Gomez and Vincent Nijman was published in Global Ecology and Conservation.

 

Source: www.nst.com.my

Klikhijau.com – Kura-kura moncong babi (Carettochelys insculpta) adalah jenis satwa dilindungi yang keberadaannya semakin terancam akibat perdagangan illegal.

Gardaanimalia.com – Kura-kura moncong babi (Carettochelys insculpta) merupakan jenis labi-labi sungai yang dapat ditemukan di perairan Papua Indonesia, Papua Nugini dan Australia.

Satwa akuatik ini dapat hidup di air tawar dan payau, biasa mencari makan di dasar kolam, pinggiran sungai, danau, dan muara. Kura-kura ini omnivora, memakan tanaman, buah, invertebrata dan ikan.

Satwa dilindungi ini juga memiliki bagian moncong yang lebih panjang serta hidung yang menyerupai hidung babi, dari morfologi inilah asal mula nama jenis satwa ini.

Tidak seperti kura-kura air tawar lainnya, kura-kura berhidung babi memiliki sirip pada bagian kaki, lebih menyerupai kura-kura laut daripada spesies air tawar. Mereka memiliki daya jelajah yang luas dan menggunakan siripnya untuk berenang seperti dayung.

Kura-kura ini memiliki permukaan cangkang yang kasar dan tidak memiliki sisik bertulang seperti jenis kura-kura lain, Plastron berwarna krem, sedangkan karapas dapat bervariasi antara berbagai warna coklat hingga abu-abu gelap.

Ukuran kura-kura dewasa tergantung pada habitatnya, dengan individu di dekat pantai jauh lebih besar daripada kura-kura di dekat sungai.

Kura-kura moncong babi betina cenderung memiliki ukuran yang lebih besar dibandingkan kura-kura jantan, perbedaannya jantan cenderung memiliki ekor yang lebih panjang dan lebih tebal. Kura-kura dewasa bisa mencapai panjang hingga setengah meter, dengan berat rata-rata 22,5 kg dan panjang cangkang rata-rata 46 cm.

Kura-kura ini berkembang biak selama musim kemarau pada saat musim bertelur antara bulan Agustus-Oktober setiap tahunnya.

Saat selesai melewati masa kawin dan memasuki masa bertelur, umumnya kura-kura betina akan keluar dari air untuk menyimpan telurnya di pangkal air. Jenis kelamin kura-kura moncong babi sangat dipengaruhi suhu sekitarnya, tukik jantan diproduksi ketika suhu menurun setengah derajat dan tukik betina diproduksi ketika suhu meningkat setengah derajat.

Terancam kepunahan

Kura-kura moncong babi terus terancam keberadaannya di habitat asalnya, salah satu ancaman terbesarnya adalah perdagangan satwa ilegal. Ribuan tukik diselundupkan dari Papua keluar wilayah hingga mencapai pasar satwa internasional.

Sebuah laporan dari Traffic, hingga 2 juta kura-kura moncong babi diambil dari sungai di wilayah Merauke, Papua. Kura-kura ini diperdagangkan secara ilegal setiap tahun untuk membuat obat tradisional Cina dan makanan eksotis.

Tukik, yang paling banyak diperjualbelikan, memiliki harga yang bervariasi tergantung dimana tukik itu dijual. Di desa-desa pedalaman Papua, tukik dapat terjual Rp. 7000 – Rp. 18.000/ekor, sementara di pusat perdagangan domestik seperti Jakarta dan Surabaya seharga Rp. 60.000 – Rp. 100.000/ekor, di pasar internasional tukik dihargai Rp. 500.000 – Rp. 800.000/ekor.

Ribuan telur diambil langsung dari alam untuk ditetaskan, hampir semua pengambilan telur tersebut dilakukan secara ilegal karena masih belum adanya penangkaran khusus untuk Kura-kura spesial ini.

Secara internasional, kura-kura jenis ini berstatus endangered atau terancam dalam daftar merah International Union Conservation Nature (IUCN), status ini hanya dua tingkat lagi menuju kepunahan.

Kura-kura ini juga masuk dalam kategori Appendix II oleh Convention International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), yang berarti daftar spesies yang dapat terancam punah bila perdagangan terus berlanjut tanpa adanya pengaturan.

Di Indonesia, Kura-kura moncong babi masuk ke dalam daftar satwa dilindungi menurut Peraturan Menteri LHK No. 106/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/12/2018 tentang perubahan kedua atas Peraturan Menteri LHK Nomor P.20/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/6/2018 tentang jenis tumbuhan dan satwa yang dilindungi.

Kurangnya pengawasan pihak berwenang terkait pengambilan telur dan penyelundupan tukik kura-kura moncong babi dapat meningkatkan potensi kepunahan satwa air ini. Perlindungan habitat dan ketatnya pengawasan perdagangan satwa dapat membantu melestarikan kura-kura jenis ini.

Sumber: www.gardaanimalia.com

NEW YORK (June 26, 2017) – Scientists from WCS and other groups have found that the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta) has joined a select group of chatty chelonians that can vocalize. The researchers recorded 182 calls from seven individuals in the wild and in a private breeding facility and found that the turtles communicate with each other while feeding, basking, and nesting.

The researchers published their study in the journal Copeia. Authors include Camila Ferrara, Aquatic Turtle Specialist for WCS; Richard Vogt of the Instituto Nacional de Pequisas da Amazônia; Carla Eisemberg of Charles Darwin University; and J. Sean Doody of the University of Tennessee.

Until recently, scientists believed that most freshwater turtles did not have complex social interactions or postnatal parental care.

The pig-nosed turtle, also called the Fly River turtle, is found in Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia. It is classified as Vulnerable by IUCN due to the illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss.

Said WCS’s Camila Ferrara, lead author of the study: “Understanding how turtles communicate is important to help to protect them. Noise pollution produced by ships, boats, jet skis, and other motorized watercraft may affect the reception of sound by turtles and potentially interfere with their communication.”

In addition, Ferrara notes that current conservation strategies, which include isolating young individuals in captivity after hatching, might be negatively impacting important social interactions among females and hatchlings.

In 2014, WCS documented vocalization in giant South American river turtles In Brazil. Since the publication of those findings, managers now immediately release hatchlings instead of holding them for up to a month before releasing them into the wild as part of a head-starting program.

WCS’s Bronx Zoo has Fly River turtles on exhibit at JungleWorld, and an individual on exhibit at the World of Reptiles that has been at the zoo since 1958 – longer than any other animal.

WCS works to save turtles and tortoises around the world. In 2012, WCS launched an organization-wide program to revive some of the most endangered turtle and tortoise species. Efforts include breeding programs at WCS’s zoos in New York, head start programs abroad, and working with governments and communities to save species on the brink of extinction.

 

Source: newsroom.wcs.org

This amazing animal is the pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta), a native to the freshwater rivers, streams and lagoons of the Northern Territory in Australia and parts of southern New Guinea. With its delicate piggy snout, webbed flippers and beautiful colors, this turtle gives to show yet again why Australia is home to some of the world’s wackiest creatures. And although it might not be as cute or majestic as an arctic fox, the pig-nosed turtle is as adorable as they get.

The sex is the animal is determined by the egg’s temperature, and when matured it can grow to 70cm in size and 20kg in weight. But what’s the deal with the snout? Apparently it pokes it out above the water’s surface, while keeping the rest of its body submersed. While less striking, its paddle-shaped flippers are also interesting and sort of atypical. These are usually seen in marine turtles, yet the pig-nosed turtle dwells in freshwater. In fact, some researchers believe its family, Carettochelyidae, represents an evolutionary link between freshwater and marine turtles. Sadly, the pig-nosed turtle is the only species left in its family, and it too is in danger of disappearing.

Its unusual appearance makes it particularly vulnerable since many seek to keep the turtles as pets. Demand is kept high also by rumors of their supposed medicinal properties among Asian communities (the rhino is another species being slaughtered in the name of superstition and pseudo-science). According to Traffic, an international watchdog group that monitors the wildlife trade, some two million wild pig-nosed turtle eggs are illegally collected by the locals of Papua in New Guinea every year and sold internationally as hatchlings, which can sell on the international market for $39-$56 each. Carla Eisemberg from the University of Canberra reports that in some areas of Papua, locals are harvesting more than 95 percent of the content of these wild nests (study).

To avoid the extinction of the species, Chris Shepherd, regional director of Traffic in Southeast Asia, is calling for “urgent enforcement action in Papua”. Governments must increase the number of inspectors along the international points of trade chain in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, mainland China and Hong Kong, he says. Shepherd also advocates for international public awareness campaigns and “efforts to address socio-economic issues that drive the illegal trade in this distinctive but imperiled species”.

 

Source: www.zmescience.com

They aren’t teenaged, mutant or ninja-like, but pig-nosed turtles are still pretty cute.

The unique freshwater turtles have pig-like snouts and flippers like marine turtles, and their cuteness has made them popular as pets. But that’s created a black market industry of turtle smuggling.

According to a newly-released report by Traffic, an international watchdog group that monitors the wildlife trade, the pig-nosed turtle is under threat from exotic pet traders. The new report on the state of the species finds that between 2003 and 2013, more than 80,000 of the turtles were confiscated in 30 seizures. That includes a massive bust of 8,368 turtles found smuggled inside suitcases in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in January 2013.

But those seizures are only a slice of the overall market: “It’s a little bit like the drug trade,” says Eric Goode, the president of the Turtle Conservancy. “They probably apprehend or find five to 10 percent of [pig-nosed turtles] going through airports.”” The illegal animal trade as a whole constitutes an estimated $10 billion global industry, according to the Humane Society.

Smuggled animals are usually transported as babies thanks to their smaller size, and that’s when the pig-nosed turtles at their cutest. But buyers don’t think about what happens when the turtles grow up, Goode says.

“Like many pets, the cute factor is extremely cute — when they’re little,” Goode says. “But [pig-nosed turtles] grow up to be quite large and aggressive with one another, and they need a very large aquarium or pond with very warm water.”

In fact, they can grow up to 50 pounds and two feet in length over the course of their 40-year lifespan.

“So somebody sees one in a tank, it’s this adorable little turtle, nearly four inches long, and thinks ‘Wow, I can keep this incredible, rubbery, cute little thing’”, says Goode. “And you know, if they keep it long enough, it gets large and it becomes this disposable pet and they give it away or it dies or they throw it away.”

And that’s a big problem for the pig-nosed turtle, which is already on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

In the US, the turtle was almost unknown for a long time. “The Bronx Zoo had an animal which they still have today, he’s called Freddy and he’s the only pig-nosed turtle in the US that anyone knew about — so it was kind of the Holy Grail,” Goode xplains. “It was the most bizarre and odd-looking turtle … But in the last 10-15 years they did start coming into the United States in bigger numbers — mostly smuggled.”

Pig-nosed turtles are indigenous to Australia and Papua New Guinea but most of the turtle smuggling industry is based in the latter country.

“The local people collect the eggs on the banks of these big rivers, and they can collect literally thousands of them and distribute them,” Goode says. “And with the newfound wealth of Asia, there is a very, very large market in recent years.”

Source: www.theworld.org

Indonesian officials said Jan. 10 they have rescued more than 8,000 baby pig-nosed turtles hidden in suitcases and thought to be destined for China and Singapore. A total of 2,968 were discovered in four suitcases at the airport serving the capital Jakarta after arriving from the remote eastern Papua region, said Zaenal Abidi, quarantine official.

“The suitcases were full of plastic boxes holding 15 to 20 turtles each. Sadly, 14 of them were dead on arrival,” he said.

Airport officials were asked Jan. 9 to be on the look-out for pig-nosed turtles — classified as vulnerable — after 5,400 of the creatures were discovered in seven suitcases in Papua, he said.

Abidi said that pig-nosed turtles smuggled through Jakarta are usually sent to Singapore or China, where they are sold as exotic pets and sometimes end up in food markets.

All the turtles would be returned to their natural habitat in Papua, Abidi said. He added that police knew who had checked in the luggage but their whereabouts were now unknown.

The pig-nosed turtle is only found in Australia and New Guinea, an island shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, and is protected under Indonesian conservation laws.

It has a distinctive snout-like nose and webbed feet. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the pig-nosed turtle as vulnerable and trade of the species is restricted.

 

Source: www.hurriyetdailynews.com