Softshell turtles are widely eaten by the Chinese as a delicacy

While only pets can now be legally exported from Indonesia, and China has banned import of Indonesian turtles altogether, TRAFFIC's Chris Shepherd says large numbers of Indonesian turtles are still ending up in China's meat markets. The culprit is often Malaysia, where legislation to protect chelonians is so weak that even the most highly CITES-protected species bootlegged into the country can be legally sold. Dealers tell Shepherd that turtles from Indonesia are frequently re-exported to China with documents labeling them as Malaysian turtles. Others are simply smuggled. Shepherd says both legal and illegal exports from Indonesia, and indeed everywhere in the region, are dropping, but that is hardly good news. "You talk to the dealers and they say it's because turtles in the wild are becoming harder to find," he notes. "On the ground, things are much worse than they were five years ago."

And China's craving for ye wei, or "wild taste," is not the only threat to Asia's chelonians. In the pet section of Bangkok's Chatuchak Market, among screeching Amazonian parrots and placid pythons under glass, half a dozen dealers openly offer legally protected, endangered turtles and tortoises from around the world, including Fly River turtles from Papua New Guinea, spider tortoises from Madagascar and star tortoises from the Indian subcontinent. Most of the buyers are Thai turtle fanciers but dealers also come down from Japan, where cramped living quarters make the reptiles highly popular pets and rare species are avidly collected. The Indian star tortoise, endowed with a beautiful, radiating star pattern on its carapace, can go for as much as 2.5 million yen, or about $24,000 (U.S.). Asian turtles also end up in European and North American homes. The Roti Island snake-necked turtle, only described in the mid-1990s and endemic to that single Indonesian island, may already be close to extinction in the wild because of intense demand by Westerners, says Shepherd. Even religious practices, like the Buddhist releases in Bangkok and elsewhere in Asia, take their toll. Having paid their 25 cents to free each hatchling, well-meaning Rakhang Temple worshippers deposit the turtles into the Chao Phraya River, a waterway roiling with raw sewage and chemical pollutants. Trying to scuttle back up the concrete steps at the river's edge, most of the animals are swept into the brown, swift-flowing water. "Buddhists are unlikely to gain merit from releasing these animals because they are likely to die, unable to survive in unfamiliar environments," says Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanayos Kengkasikit, whose men that holy day raided temples across Thailand, where all 27 native turtle species are officially protected yet still heavily collected.

Some conservationists, however, are beginning to see glimmers of hope for Asia's chelonians. "We're starting to get some understanding of the situation, but we still don't have it under control," says Craig Kirkpatrick, who directs TRAFFIC's East Asia program. One positive sign comes from Singapore, which has banned all trade of reptiles as pets except for the red-eared slider, a species native to the U.S. Southeast that is bred in captivity. In Indonesia, some traffickers are being caught (though rarely prosecuted), and last year CITES increased protection for five species of Asian turtles and tortoises. Meanwhile, an international coalition of zoos, private individuals and a few government authorities is working to improve turtle conservation in protected areas and has begun breeding colonies in the event that some species go extinct in the wild. Turtle farming is also booming, although few species breed well enough in captivity to meet demand. Farming may also increase pressure on breeding stock captured in the wild. "The simple fact that you're farming doesn't mean that the wild species are out of danger," says van Dijk. "Look at the water buffalo. There are millions that are being farmed for use as domestic animals while the wild buffalo is on its last legs." But since demand for turtle remains high, he adds: "I'd rather have those turtles supplied from farms than harvested from the wild as stocks decline and prices increase, providing incentives for people to hunt down the last few turtles." Over the past two decades, Southeast Asians have shipped tons of farmed turtles, mostly softshells, to China. Half a dozen species are also being farmed in China, where secretive breeding operations in the back alleys of provincial towns target such prized species as the three-striped box turtle, also known as the golden coin turtle. "These farmers are not advertising that they are sitting on millions of dollars worth of turtles," van Dijk says. "The fact that you have three layers of barbed wire and six vicious German shepherds patrolling the grounds suggests there is something valuable there."