Save our Turtles!

Another reason to be disgusted by "traditional Asian medicine" - add it to the list of bear gallbladders, rhino horns, and the hundreds of animals whose populations are being devastated due to it.



From the Center for Biological Diversity:

Freshwater turtles are facing more and more devastating overharvest in the United States for sale to the pet industry and food and medicinal markets in Asia. Beautiful map turtles are already endangered, and unregulated international trade is rapidly destroying them and other native turtles.

Protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species would put limits on international trade and monitor their populations.

In response to a petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced that it may propose 17 species of U.S. freshwater turtles for CITES protection at the next meeting in Thailand. The agency has invited the public to comment on which species should be listed.

Please take action now to tell the Service to protect U.S. freshwater turtles from falling victim to an insatiable international market.

I hope you'll take a minute to do this!  And, PLEASE don't purchase animals from pet stores, as by doing this you support a whole host of problems, from parrot smuggling to coral reef destruction to the decimation of wild reptile populations and beyond.