It’s hard to imagine turtles in decline, but overexploitation for meat and the pet trade, climate change and habitat destruction are getting in the way of their impressive tenure on the Earth. A surprising 61 percent of the 356 turtles species have become extinct or threatened in the modern era. (Related: Turtle with a Green Mohawk Faces Extinction)īetween 20, desert tortoise populations in California, Nevada, and southern Utah declined 37 percent.Īnd those turtles are “protected under what may be the toughest environmental law in the world, the Endangered Species Act,” says Lovich, lead author of a new study in the journal Bioscienceabout the decline of turtles. The Northern River Terrapin, a species in which the males undergo dramatic color change in the breeding season, is being helped back from the brink of extinction by breeding programs such as the T urtle Survival Alliance in India and Turtle Island Conservation Breeding and Research Center for Turtles in Bangladesh. The Yangtze giant softshell turtleis down to four individuals. Photograph by David Doubilet, Nat Geo Image Collection ( Recent news: Police Raid What May Be Europe's Biggest Illegal Turtle Farm.)Ī hawksbill sea turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata, at Jayne's Gulley, Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea. So what would happen if they disappeared? ( Related: Are Plastic Six-Pack Rings Still Ensnaring Wildlife?) Turtles in TroubleĪ number of turtle species are already at risk of vanishing. ( Related: How to Tell a Turtle From a Tortoise.) Turtles can be aquatic, semi-aquatic, or live mostly on land. The distinction:Tortoises are land-only animals and do not swim. “It’s the only animal that’s ever lived that has its hips and shoulder blades inside its rib cage.” Geological Survey, so it’s an umbrella term used for turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. “All animals with a backbone and a shell are turtles,” says Jeffrey Lovich, Research Ecologist at the U.S. They’re also a bit of a bridge between land and water, depending on the species. They’re central to many mythologies and, as a first pet for many kids, they’re a gentle bridge between home and the wild.
They’re also widely beloved, the kind of animal you rarely hear of people having a problem with or fear of. They calmly browse the forest or sun themselves on a log, appearing to live a life of leisure.īehind their chill demeanor, however, turtles are ecological movers and shakers, thanks to their digging, moving a lot farther than you’d think they do and moving between ecosystems, like the ocean and the beach. One lovely thing about turtles is that they never look busy.
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