Papua Conservation

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