Experts in Singapore Discuss Turtle Welfare

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Articles / Turtle News
Date: Apr 04, 2004 - 12:52 PM
April 2, 2004 - Animal experts from around the region were in Singapore Wednesday for a four-day workshop aimed at finding ways to halt the rapid loss of turtles and tortoises in Southeast Asia.

Fifteen million wild turtles and tortoises disappear from Southeast Asia each year, the workshop was told, according to a report in the Streats newspaper on Wednesday.

Specialists from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore are attempting to reverse the turtles' slide towards extinction in a first ever meeting of Asian experts on the issue, Streats reported.


"They are poached for the pet trade and for food. They also die because of environmental pollution, and the degradation of suitable nesting sites and habitats," Singapore Zoo senior assistant curator Francis Lim told the paper.

"They are not extinct but have become very rare. For example, we seldom see the spiny hill turtles these days."

The future of the animals is even more concerning because many of the disappearing turtles and tortoises are adult breeding females, experts said.

"This means that we are not getting enough baby turtles and this affects our entire population," the paper quoted veterinary adviser to the U.S.-based Turtle Survival Alliance Chris Tabaka as saying.

One of the main reasons for the decline in turtle populations is that turtle soup and eggs are popular delicacies among Asian communities, and their meat is perceived to have medicinal properties.

The Chinese believe the meat of some species, such as the golden coin turtle, can ward off cancer, while in Cambodia expectant mothers are encouraged to eat turtle heads.

The workshop, organized by the Singapore Zoo and the Turtle Survival Alliance, covers freshwater turtle cultivation, breeding and veterinary care.