Illegal wildlife trade, seizures and prosecutions: A 7.5-year analysis of trade in pig-nosed turtles Carettochelys insculpta in and from Indonesia

Abstract

The illegal wildlife trade is increasingly recognised as a major threat to biodiversity conservation, and one way of curbing it is to properly enforce existing legislation and where appropriate to prosecute to the full extent of the law. One of the taxa that suffers greatly from unregulated trade are the tortoises and freshwater turtles, with collection for trade currently being the most significant threat for most Asian species. Illegal trade in pig-nosed turtles from Indonesia to supply international demand for pets, and to a lesser degree for meat and use in traditional medicines, continues on a large scale. We examined 26 reported seizures over the period 2013 to 2020, of which 20 took place in Indonesia and the remaining five in other parts of Asia with the turtles being trafficked from Indonesia. In total, this amounted to the seizure of 52,374 pig-nosed turtles. Pig-nosed turtles are totally protected in Indonesia, and nine of the 26 cases we examined were successfully prosecuted though never to the full extent of the law. Trade in and trafficking of pig-nosed turtles is in violation of Indonesia’s Fisheries and Customs Acts, yet these legal instruments were not used for prosecutions. In addition to the illegal trade, the Indonesia CITES Management Authority reported the export of 5415 pig-nosed turtles, 95% of which were declared as wild-caught, in direct contravention of Indonesia’s own protected species legislation. We strongly recommend a strategy be developed and implemented to more effectively tackle this trade from point of collection through to point of sale, with improved use of all relevant pieces of national legislation to serve as a strong deterrent, and ultimately to protect this species from over-exploitation.