Southeast Asian Box Turtlebiology and ecology

The Malayan Box Turtle is a subspecies of the widespread Southeast Asian Box, which is considered the commonest freshwater turtle in South-East Asia, but despite this, and even its tolerance of manmade artificial habitats, the species is in peril due to over-exploitation finds the new report, Science in CITES: The biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis and its uses and trade in Malaysia.

In 2005, an export ban on Malayan Box Turtles was introduced by Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), the government’s wildlife agency in Peninsular Malaysia, and similar exports bans exist in Sabah and Sarawak. 

Following the ban, exports of turtles for the pet trade in Japan, Europe and the USA apparently ceased, but the latest TRAFFIC report found widespread evidence of continuing illegal export, mainly to Hong Kong, China and a to a lesser extent Singapore. 

“A harvest survey at two traders in Selangor, for example yielded 385 Malayan Box Turtles in a 38 day period; multiplying by the number of known illegal suppliers of turtles gives a conservative estimate of almost 22,000 animals illegally exported per year from Malaysia,” said Dr Sabine Schoppe, the author of the report. 

The vast majority of Malayan Box Turtles illegally exported are adults, which poses a particular threat to this species, which has a slow reproductive cycle, only maturing late, and producing a limited number of eggs.

“There is no commercial breeding of Asian Box Turtle in Malaysia or elsewhere because it is expensive, time-consuming and economically unfeasible,” said Schoppe. “To meet demand, animals are being taken from the wild at an unsustainable rate, which has to be addressed or they will disappear from the Malaysian countryside.” 

“Simple maths leads you to the obvious conclusion: stop the over-exploitation of Malayan Box Turtles, before we lose them.”
 

There are indications from every State in Peninsular Malaysia that populations of the Malayan Box Turtle are over-exploited or even locally extinct. According to local people, Malayan Box Turtles are rarely observed in the wild compared to only 5–10 years ago. The Asian Box Turtle was listed as Vulnerable to extinction by IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, in 2000. 

“It is nowadays difficult to find a Malayan Box Turtle in the wild near residential or agricultural areas,” said Azrina Abdullah, Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia. 

“Immediate action is needed to regulate exploitation for the future sustainable management of the Malayan Box Turtle.”

To help restore populations of Malayan Box Turtles, TRAFFIC recommends a total harvest ban or the strict implementation by PERHILITAN of the existing export ban for one generation to allow numbers to recover; conduct a non-detrimental finding on the Malayan Box Turtles, improvement of trade control measures, such as development of a bribe-proof CITES permit system; better international co-operation between government agencies in the region for controlling illegal wildlife trade, particularly at border crossings; and regular inspections and appropriate law enforcement actions taken against traders, markets and pet and aquarium shops trading illegally by relevant government authorities.