Turtles live a quiet life in the ponds and woodlands of Virginia, but in the wider world there’s a thriving black market for the animals, their meat and blood.
“The pet trade is certainly a big aspect of it, as well as sometimes turtles are used for medicinal purposes or even as food,” says Connor Gillespie, outreach coordinator for the Wildlife Center of Virginia.
He notes the state confiscated about 600 turtles over a two-year period, and they could not be returned to the wild.
"They can’t be released, because turtles have incredibly small home ranges. They cannot survive very well if they’re relocated, so we have to know exactly where they are to be able to release them."
And the problem is magnified by social media – telling trappers where to find their prey.
"Sometimes they’ll catch on to where a turtle might be, because they’ll see a social media post about someone saying,’ Hey, I saw a really cool turtle in this location.’ They’ll see that stuff. They’ll go out. They’ll capture them," Gillespie explains.
He adds that the loss of a single animal in the wild can have an exponential impact.
“Turtles take a very long time to mature, to reach reproductive age, so even the loss of one or two individuals from an area can have a really big impact on their population.”
The Wildlife Center is now searching for zoos, aquariums and other facilities licensed to provide homes for wild turtles which can live 60 years or more in captivity.
