Video: Rare Philippine Turtles, Found Only On One Island, In Danger Due To Chinese Smuggling
These rare forest turtles are found on a single island in the Philippines. But they are in danger due to the copious Chinese demand, announced the local wildlife officials Sunday, according to HNGN.
They are discovered in the western-most island in the Philippines, Palawan. But these forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) are smuggled by poachers into China, which poses a threat to their very lives, according to Adelina Villena, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development's (PCSD) chief of staff.
"They sell them mainly to the Chinese exotic food and medicine trade and the pet trade. They are smuggled out of the country, some are even traded on the high seas," Villena said, according to the Agence France-Presse.
"They are easy to find and easy to catch because they don't move quickly. They can't really escape," she added.
While the Palawan forest turtle is included by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in the "critically endangered" list, the penalty for capturing it is not too hard---just six to 12 years, from which the offenders can even bail themselves out. "The penalty is so small and the profits are so huge. That is our big problem," Villena said, according to GMA News.
As the turtle carries its brown or black shell on its back, with a stripe on its head extending beyond its ears, it can be identified easily. The price of freshwater turtles is said to be from 250PHP to 300 PHP ($4.3-$6.44 U.S.) in the Chinese black market.
Last week on the 18th October, 979 turtles were confiscated in a raid by teams from PCSD and enforcers from the Provincial Law Enforcement Task Force (PLETF.) and brought to Puerto Princesa to be "handled properly", according to Palawan News. The alleged wildlife traffickers were Joel Sulayaw, Gerald Favila and Benjie Dimasupil in Taytay, Palawan.
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