Can Crocodile and Turtle Farms Reduce Mexico’s Eco-Trafficking?
Government-regulated crocodile and turtle farms have helped reduce illegal hunting and protect endangered species in Mexico, but the illicit trade continues. Illegally hunted and possibly illegally bred animals and their byproducts still circulate, and are also leaking out into the international market.
The humble house in the rural village of Simón Sarlat in the tropical Mexican state of Tabasco has a sign hanging outside offering fish for sale. Inside, the front room is dark, the walls robin egg blue and dirty. In the corner sits a large freezer, full of frozen fish, but there are other goods available if the right questions are asked.
After a query about turtles and crocodiles, a short, stocky fisherman with stubby, hard hands and weathered skin disappears into a side room. He emerges carrying a small plastic washbowl containing six live turtles of varying shapes and sizes. He offers all of them for 280 pesos — around $15.
The largest turtle is of the jicotea species. The rest are pochitoques. Both are some of the region’s most trafficked. All are now officially protected species but Chico, the hunter, caught them in the wild.
Click the link to read more…
Turtle News From Around the World
Conservation
USA:- Pacific sea turtles likely to go extinct under Trump administration policy, lawsuit argues
Biology
USA:- Oil-Firing drones could give tortoises a fighting chance
Crime & Punishment
India:- Rare species of tortoise recovered by North Lakhimpur Police
Ecology
USA:- Beach chairs causing problems for nesting sea turtles, environmentalists say (Video)
New Zealand:- Dead turtle makes an appearance at Auckland Council committee
Health & Medical
Greece:- Turtle found in Poti returned to sea
USA:- CROW rehabilitates endangered sea turtle found on Fort Myers Beach
USA:- Sea turtle found dead with plastic in it’s mouth at Little Talbot Island, park officials say (Video)
Miscellany
UK:- Leighton Buzzard woman reunited with her tortoise
Question or Concerns? Want to submit an article to get posted? Email us at [email protected].
Photo from Juan José Restrepo.
