By, Anita Rachman Wall Street Journal, 1/29/15
Indonesia scored two big victories in recent weeks against smugglers of pig-nosed turtles, who get their name from their cute piggy snouts.
On Jan. 17, the Fish Quarantine Inspection Agency seized 2,350 pig-nosed turtles at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Then, on Jan. 22, the agency seized 5,284 pig-nosed turtles at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
“We cannot let this happen again and again,” Narmoko Prasmadji, the head of the agency, told The Wall Street Journal.
Pig-nosed turtles are protected under Indonesian law. But that hasn’t stopped smugglers, who seek profits by selling them to pet stores or even for eating.
Mr. Prasmadji said in the past three years, the agency has foiled at least five pig-nosed turtles smuggling attempts, “and each [of the attempts] always involved thousands of turtles.”
Traffic, a group fighting smugglers, says more than 30 seizures totaling more than 80,000 pig-nosed turtles occurred between 2003 and 2013. In one massive seizure in Timika, Papua, in 2009, authorities recovered 12,249 pig-nosed turtles.
Indonesia Real Time’s Anita Rachman caught up with Chris R. Shepherd, the regional director of Traffic Southeast Asia for his insights into the latest busts and what challenges are ahead. Mr. Shepherd, who earned his PhD from Oxford Brookes University in the UK, was born in Canada and has lived in Southeast Asia for more than 20 years.
WSJ: Why do people smuggle these turtles? Why are they valuable and who is buying them and for what?
Mr. Shepherd: Pig-nosed Turtles are largely sought after for sale in the global trade for pets. Given their unique characteristics – they are a bit like a cross between a freshwater turtle and a marine turtle, with a pig-like nose –, they are extremely popular. Most buyers probably don’t realize they are buying animals that have been illegally sourced from the wild, smuggled in luggage or in cargo, and sold, often openly, in pet shops. The main demand currently appears to be coming from China, where the turtles are sold as pets, and consumed as a luxury meat as well.
WSJ: Can you tell us more about the pig-nosed turtle? Are they found widely? Are their numbers dwindling?
Mr. Shepherd: Pig-nosed Turtles are found in some parts of northern Australia and on the island of Papua. The vast majority of the illegal harvest for the international trade takes place in Indonesian West Papua. They are restricted to a few river systems, and unfortunately for them, they are seasonal nesters – meaning poachers know when to collect the eggs and hatchlings. Locals claim the numbers are declining, and with the volumes seen in the black market, this is not at all surprising.
The volumes are simply not sustainable, and enforcement efforts at the source sites, and all along the trade chain, are weak, or in many places, lacking altogether.
WSJ: The Indonesian government just succeeded in stopping the smuggling of these turtles? What went right?
Mr. Shepherd: The authorities in the airports in Bali and Jakarta are to be congratulated on these seizures. Vigilance, effective use of informants, and commitment to tackle the illegal trade are all ingredients to successful actions such as these. These airports are very frequently used as import and export points for shipments of illegal wildlife.
WSJ: How often do you think these turtles might be being successfully smuggled past the authorities?
Mr. Shepherd: It is very likely that these turtles represent the tip of the iceberg and that far more have already been, or will be, successfully smuggled out of Indonesia. Smugglers would not try to move such large shipments through these airports if they were not quite certain they would get away with it. Past shipments seized in Hong Kong, as well as the availability of this species in markets is evidence that smugglers have succeeded in getting past the Indonesian authorities in the past.
WSJ: What additional steps should the Indonesian government take to stop this illegal trade?
Mr. Shepherd: The authorities in Indonesia should not only increase vigilance and effective use of informants, but they should also carry out intelligence-led investigations to map out the networks involved in this racket, and rip them apart. Going after the planners and financers of these smuggling efforts is key. Putting the big traders that control it all behind bars would make a huge difference. Currently, deterrents are minimal, and it usually the carriers or ‘mules’ that are apprehended, and the real criminals remain untouched.
WSJ: What is your organization doing to try to stop the smuggling of pig-nosed turtles?
Mr. Shepherd: Traffic in Southeast Asia has carried out research on the trade in this species and has made a number of recommendations to assist the authorities in combating this trade, including flagging the fact that January to March is “Pig-nosed Turtle smuggling season”! We have developed species identification keys and guides in local languages to aid enforcement officers when doing inspections, and we have lobbied the authorities in Indonesia to take strong action against the illegal trade in this and other tortoise and freshwater turtle species. Unfortunately, Indonesia remains one of the largest sources of illegal tortoises and freshwater turtles in the world.
WSJ: How did you get into the anti-smuggling business? How do you keep yourself motivated when many animals are being illegally trafficked and killed?
Mr. Shepherd: Working to save wildlife is something I have wanted to do since I was a small boy. I have never wanted to do anything else. Illegal trade is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of an ever-growing list of species, and I can’t live with that. I cannot understand why more people do not want to get involved and do what they can to stop the illegal trade. There needs to be more people getting involved, taking real actions to stop the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. Currently, wildlife trade has become somewhat of a high profile issue, and we need to ensure that this attention translates to real conservation actions on the ground.
Indonesia scored two big victories in recent weeks against smugglers of pig-nosed turtles, who get their name from their cute piggy snouts.
On Jan. 17, the Fish Quarantine Inspection Agency seized 2,350 pig-nosed turtles at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. Then, on Jan. 22, the agency seized 5,284 pig-nosed turtles at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
“We cannot let this happen again and again,” Narmoko Prasmadji, the head of the agency, told The Wall Street Journal.
Pig-nosed turtles are protected under Indonesian law. But that hasn’t stopped smugglers, who seek profits by selling them to pet stores or even for eating.
Mr. Prasmadji said in the past three years, the agency has foiled at least five pig-nosed turtles smuggling attempts, “and each [of the attempts] always involved thousands of turtles.”
Traffic, a group fighting smugglers, says more than 30 seizures totaling more than 80,000 pig-nosed turtles occurred between 2003 and 2013. In one massive seizure in Timika, Papua, in 2009, authorities recovered 12,249 pig-nosed turtles.
Indonesia Real Time’s Anita Rachman caught up with Chris R. Shepherd, the regional director of Traffic Southeast Asia for his insights into the latest busts and what challenges are ahead. Mr. Shepherd, who earned his PhD from Oxford Brookes University in the UK, was born in Canada and has lived in Southeast Asia for more than 20 years.
WSJ: Why do people smuggle these turtles? Why are they valuable and who is buying them and for what?
Mr. Shepherd: Pig-nosed Turtles are largely sought after for sale in the global trade for pets. Given their unique characteristics – they are a bit like a cross between a freshwater turtle and a marine turtle, with a pig-like nose –, they are extremely popular. Most buyers probably don’t realize they are buying animals that have been illegally sourced from the wild, smuggled in luggage or in cargo, and sold, often openly, in pet shops. The main demand currently appears to be coming from China, where the turtles are sold as pets, and consumed as a luxury meat as well.
WSJ: Can you tell us more about the pig-nosed turtle? Are they found widely? Are their numbers dwindling?
Mr. Shepherd: Pig-nosed Turtles are found in some parts of northern Australia and on the island of Papua. The vast majority of the illegal harvest for the international trade takes place in Indonesian West Papua. They are restricted to a few river systems, and unfortunately for them, they are seasonal nesters – meaning poachers know when to collect the eggs and hatchlings. Locals claim the numbers are declining, and with the volumes seen in the black market, this is not at all surprising.
The volumes are simply not sustainable, and enforcement efforts at the source sites, and all along the trade chain, are weak, or in many places, lacking altogether.
WSJ: The Indonesian government just succeeded in stopping the smuggling of these turtles? What went right?
Mr. Shepherd: The authorities in the airports in Bali and Jakarta are to be congratulated on these seizures. Vigilance, effective use of informants, and commitment to tackle the illegal trade are all ingredients to successful actions such as these. These airports are very frequently used as import and export points for shipments of illegal wildlife.
WSJ: How often do you think these turtles might be being successfully smuggled past the authorities?
Mr. Shepherd: It is very likely that these turtles represent the tip of the iceberg and that far more have already been, or will be, successfully smuggled out of Indonesia. Smugglers would not try to move such large shipments through these airports if they were not quite certain they would get away with it. Past shipments seized in Hong Kong, as well as the availability of this species in markets is evidence that smugglers have succeeded in getting past the Indonesian authorities in the past.
WSJ: What additional steps should the Indonesian government take to stop this illegal trade?
Mr. Shepherd: The authorities in Indonesia should not only increase vigilance and effective use of informants, but they should also carry out intelligence-led investigations to map out the networks involved in this racket, and rip them apart. Going after the planners and financers of these smuggling efforts is key. Putting the big traders that control it all behind bars would make a huge difference. Currently, deterrents are minimal, and it usually the carriers or ‘mules’ that are apprehended, and the real criminals remain untouched.
WSJ: What is your organization doing to try to stop the smuggling of pig-nosed turtles?
Mr. Shepherd: Traffic in Southeast Asia has carried out research on the trade in this species and has made a number of recommendations to assist the authorities in combating this trade, including flagging the fact that January to March is “Pig-nosed Turtle smuggling season”! We have developed species identification keys and guides in local languages to aid enforcement officers when doing inspections, and we have lobbied the authorities in Indonesia to take strong action against the illegal trade in this and other tortoise and freshwater turtle species. Unfortunately, Indonesia remains one of the largest sources of illegal tortoises and freshwater turtles in the world.
WSJ: How did you get into the anti-smuggling business? How do you keep yourself motivated when many animals are being illegally trafficked and killed?
Mr. Shepherd: Working to save wildlife is something I have wanted to do since I was a small boy. I have never wanted to do anything else. Illegal trade is one of the greatest threats to the conservation of an ever-growing list of species, and I can’t live with that. I cannot understand why more people do not want to get involved and do what they can to stop the illegal trade. There needs to be more people getting involved, taking real actions to stop the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. Currently, wildlife trade has become somewhat of a high profile issue, and we need to ensure that this attention translates to real conservation actions on the ground.
