Turtle Pet Trade in Jakarta By Aeschylus

1. Turtle Pet Trade in Jakarta By Aeschylus

2. In the last decades the interest in keeping turtles as pets has grown rapidly. As a result of this a large international market has developed for these animals. Indonesian turtles are very appreciated in the International pet trade, In addition to this Indonesia is importing a wide variation of exotic turtles to supply their own growing turtle pet market, mainly in Jakarta.

3. Exported Indonesian turtles for the international pet trade go mainly to United States, Europe and Japan and in less numbers to big capitals of South East Asian countries such as Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore. Together with Jakarta this creates an international trade net in where is possible find any species, rare or common, protected or not.

4. Turtles can be divided in three groups: - Indonesian species for Export - Indonesian species for Local Markets - Exotic species Imported into Indonesia

5. List of Indonesian Freshwater Turtles

6. Five endemic species in Indonesia and one subspecies.Only one is protected !!! • Chelodina mccordi Critically endangered and close to the extinction. NOT PROTECTED • Leucocephalon yuwonoi Critically endangered. NOT PROTECTED • Indotestudo forstenii Endangered. NOT PROTECTED • Chelodina reinmanni Endangered. NOT PROTECTED • Elseya branderhosti Vulnerable. NOT PROTECTED • Chitra chitra javanicus Critically endangered. PROTECTED Four other critically endangered and endangered Indonesian Turtle species are not protected as well

7. Turtle distribution process inside Indonesia Consumption Markets Local hunters harvest the turtles from the wild Pet Trade Local collectors Selection Turtle Pet Traders in Jakarta Middle Man Jakarta Pet Markets International Pet Markets

8. Indonesian species for Export Thousands of illegal turtles are being exported from Jakarta each year The number of Indonesian turtles exported from Jakarta is much higher than the number which quotas allow. This suggests that the export quotas are not controlled.

9. No Control at the Airport Turtles exported from Jakarta Airport are not checked at Quarantine and are not identified due to the lack of knowledge. Because of this no one knows which species and in what numbers are being exported.

10. All the turtle export quotas in Indonesia are reserved for Pets, so by definition ….. ALL TURTLES EXPORTED FROM INDONESIA TO SUPPLY THE COMSUMTION MARKETS IN CHINA IS ILLEGAL!!!!

11. Turtle movements into and outside Indonesia Indonesian species Japan Exotic turtles from all over the world Indonesian pet markets Singapore Jakarta Bangkok Bali Indonesian species Exotic species Europe North America

12. Indonesian species for Local Markets Most of the Indonesian turtles species in the local markets are illegal. This includes even non protected species due to exceeding the harvesting quotas.

13. It is possible to see protected species of turtles for sale in the different markets on any given day. In the month of August, 2004 alone: 99 Indonesian Protected turtles have been reported in Jakarta markets

14. Exotic species Imported into Indonesia Any exotic turtle species can be found in Jakarta markets, all without any import permits.

15. Exotic species, once they enter in Indonesia, don’t have any kind of protection. Even the most rare species of turtles in the world, including CITES I species.

16. Exotic species imported into Indonesia are sent from Japan, Bangkok and Singapore.

17. List of the turtles found in Jakarta Markets during August 2004