79 Live Turtles Seized At Shanghai Airport (VIDEO)

Shanghai airport officials got quite a surprise Saturday when they discovered 79 live turtles in a package, the Associated Press reports.

With a return address in Japan, the turtles were individually wrapped in nylon stockings to provide warmth and ventilation, then placed inside a cardboard box.

The animals were identified as Japanese pond turtles. Though not yet endangered, the species has been experiencing a decline in population due to loss of natural habitat.

Authorities believe the turtles were being shipped to China because of the country's growing demand for exotic pets.

Quarantine officials said that the turtles would be either returned or destroyed.

In 2010, a Shanghai zoo complained that it had no more space for exotic animals abandoned by the city's petowners, the Telegraph reported. The zoo demanded owners think carefully before buying such animals.

Just last month, China's Chongqing airport police seized 10 bear paws during a routine check, according to Shanghaiist.

Comments

[594]

03:33 PM on 02/21/2013

its been a year; what happened to the turtles; hope they weren't destroyed.

[nanaofmysky]

03:50 PM on 03/20/2012

Destroy them???????? Give me a break!!! Why cann't they be returned to their natural habitat? These poor creatures didn't have a chance in life. Find the shipper, you know it is not the first or last time they will do it. SAVE THE TURTLES,GIVE THEM A CHANCE IN LIFE!!!!

[evecaren]

02:20 PM on 02/20/2012

These turtles it seems never had a chance to live out their lives. If they are sent to the return
address in Japan, what will happen to them ? I hope they will be returned to the natural home,
but I rather doubt it. Those poor pond turtles being wrapped up in a stocking for days at a time.
This is horrendous treatment of these turtles. I hope these innocent turtles are not killed, but
returned to Japan.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

05:58 AM on 02/19/2012

returned or destroyed??? how about taking the time to find a humane solution, so these little beings can live out their lives

[Cat Turd]

12:37 AM on 02/17/2012

Send them to me! I'll look after them.

I took a stray dog home last weekend :)

[karen lyons kalmenson]

05:57 AM on 02/19/2012

♥☻

[okccutie]

04:59 PM on 02/16/2012

why destroy them? just let them go!!! poor babies!

[WilliamL]

07:13 AM on 02/16/2012

soup

[karen lyons kalmenson]

05:57 AM on 02/19/2012

NO SOUP FOR YOU, turkey!!!

[Redhunteur]

02:27 AM on 02/16/2012

How in the world is destroying these animals protecting them?

[morning cry420]

04:03 AM on 02/16/2012

I don't think protecting them even registers on their radar.

[pauliji]

07:21 AM on 02/17/2012

I think the question is what kind of viruses, parasites, bacteria or amoebas are they currently carrying that would make them unsuitable for local release? Or would a foreign species from Japan be right for local release? If they have been handled by humans and transported to a foreign country already, how can they be safely returned to their native habitat without fear of infecting that habitat with imported diseases? What other turtles may have been in contact with these at the smuggler's place? What diseases did they have? It would require a long quarantine to even begin to assure that their eventual release would not pose a problem. If someone in Japan were willing to take them, and keep them safe until their health could be assured, they coulde be released. Since the species is in decline already, there is probably a certain amount of susceptibility in the population to whatever is causing the decline. In all likelihood, nobody really knows any answers to any of these questions. It's not like there's some sort of protocol for Japanese pond turtles already in place in the Shanghai airport customs service. People just should not keep exotic pets. It's always a bad idea, and this is just another example of how and why.

[evecaren]

02:10 PM on 02/20/2012

You make some very interesting points, pauliji.

[scottandrewhutchins]

11:59 PM on 02/15/2012

I hope they don't destroy the turtles.

[khanti]

11:25 PM on 02/15/2012

Exotic pets my foot most likely for turtle soup.

[pauliji]

07:23 AM on 02/17/2012

While it is true that the Chinese are currently the worst culprits in the devastation of turtle species worldwide, it's almost all sea turtles they eat. Also they use the shell for decorative items. We in the west did the very same thing for hundreds of years, right up through the 1970's.

[evecaren]

02:13 PM on 02/20/2012

I read somewhere that sea turtles are becoming endangered too and yet some of the
Chinese people have no problem catching them, killing them and making soup out of
them. What a terrible waste of a beautiful sea creature.

[The ORF in Largo]

08:04 PM on 02/15/2012

Why didn't Mitch McConnell just put his Chinese relatives in a diplomatic pouch to smuggle them to
Kentucky

[AudreyLee]

06:43 PM on 02/15/2012

"Quarantine officials said that the turtles would be either returned or destroyed."

What?! They're just going to murder thirty nine animals? Just let the little guys go.

[irishkids1234]

06:27 PM on 02/15/2012

I like turtles !

[doodlebug2]

07:01 PM on 02/15/2012

me too

[rav1267]

05:48 PM on 02/15/2012

This cruelty to animals, hope that the perpetrator gets caught.

[namora]

05:00 PM on 02/15/2012

A bit small for the grinder but they will grow.