Staff
Correspondent-11/8/12-Traffic
Security
personnel and customs officials at Shahjalal International Airport yesterday
seized 73 turtles of rare species while being smuggled out through the airport.
The
turtles were being smuggled to either Thailand or Singapore, said an official
at the airport's Armed Police Battalion (APBn).
The
officials also arrested three persons suspecting their link to the smuggling.
They are Mohammad Yeasin, Mohammad Sabuj and Mohammad Sohagh.
“The
reptiles include rare species like Shila Turtle, Star Turtle and Kali Turtle.
These are on the verge of extinction,” Divisional Forest Officer Md
Shahabuddin, who inspected the turtles at the airport, told The Daily Star last
night.
Security
personnel of Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and customs officials first
noticed some suspicious objects in one of the luggage while scanning at Gate
No. 3 of the airport around 11:00am.
As
the officials asked the owner of the luggage to open it, he said he had left
the key outside and left the place hurriedly.
The
members of APBn chased him while he fast got into a microbus. The law enforcers
managed to halt the vehicle after a while, but the man got down and fled away.
The
APBn members later arrested the three from the microbus. The arrestees,
however, denied their having any link to the smuggling.
After
opening the luggage, the law enforcers found the turtles strapped in four
cloth-made sacks.
Earlier
on August 6, the APBn members seized 108 Shila Turtles at the airport while
being smuggled to Thailand.
TRAFFIC
urges consumers not to buy marine turtle products after new report highlights
ongoing illegal trade – via Herp Digest
Beijing,
China, 1st November 2012—TRAFFIC is urging holiday makers not to buy
marine turtle products through broadcasts in Hainan Province on local radio
FM886.
The
FM886 radio campaign aims to raise awareness among local fishermen, souvenir
shop owners and tourists about the ongoing poaching, illegal processing and
trade in marine turtles. Three key messages are being broadcasted at least nine
times per day until March 2013.
Hainan
Province was chosen for the campaign after ongoing TRAFFIC market surveys found
the illegal trade in marine turtle parts rising there and in Guangxi Province.
In 2009, TRAFFIC surveys found 4,812 marine turtle products for sale in 57
shops in Hainan, while in July 2012 the number had risen to 11,255 products in
92 shops.
The
survey results were revealed today in a new report, Market Forces – An
Examination of Marine Turtle Trade in China and Japan. The report finds
significant growth of the trade in China and persistent demand from the bekko
industry in Japan as factors influencing source country turtle populations in
the Coral Triangle region, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Philippines.
Asian
countries, especially China and Japan, have a long history of using marine
turtles and their products as luxury goods, souvenirs and traditional
medicine.
“With
Hainan a popular holiday destination and many thousands of visitors each year,
there is a huge demand for souvenirs, but we would urge visitors not to buy
goods made from marine turtles, which are being sold illegally,” said James
Compton, TRAFFIC’s Senior Programme Director for Asia & the Pacific.
“Anyone
buying or selling such goods faces prosecution and harsh sentences under
Chinese law and is guilty of contributing to the decline in marine turtle
populations throughout the region.”
Marine
turtles are poached for their tortoiseshell scutes as well as for their
meat and eggs. All species are banned from international commercial trade
under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora), and in China they are listed as national second-class
protected animals under the Wild Animal Protection Law.
In
Japan, a persistent demand exists for highly decorative bekko pieces
manufactured from Hawksbill Turtle shells, while in China the main demand
is for jewellery and whole ornamental specimens, as well as scutes for use in
traditional medicine.
Significantly,
the Chinese government has acknowledged the seriousness of this problem and in
June this year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Public Security and
General Customs launched a joint enforcement action against the illegal
trade.
TRAFFIC
has supported this initiative through working with local government
authorities. In July 2012, more than 110 fisheries enforcement officers from 29
border checkpoints, along with 10 officers from the Industry & Commerce
department and border police took part in an enforcement training workshop
supported by TRAFFIC in Haikou, Hainan Province.
In
Malaysia and the Philippines, where marine turtles are sourced, TRAFFIC
provided similar training in 2011 for 30 enforcement officials working inside
one of the Coral Triangle’s transboundary protected areas. Trainings in
Indonesia and Viet Nam are also pending. These activities are being conducted
under the auspices of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife
Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN). They have been accompanied by a review of
national laws pertaining to turtles in Southeast Asia.
“Strengthening
law enforcement is critical to deterring the illegal trade in marine turtles
and the poaching of these animals in source regions,” said Lida Pet Soede,
leader of WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme, based in Indonesia.
“We
are happy to see the Chinese government paying increased attention to this
illegal trade as part of its focus on combating the wildlife crime whose
consequences are felt well beyond China’s borders.”
TRAFFIC’s
work on combating the illegal trade and reducing the demand for marine turtle
products in China is generously supported by WWF’s Coral Triangle Programme.
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