First record of Vietnamese box turtles in the wild

So called 'market turtle' is finally found in the wild

April 2011: The demand for turtles to be bought and used for food, traditional medicine and pets is now threatening nearly all Asian species with extinction in the wild - but already the market is having a devastating effect.

NOT FOR SALE: A scientist has now found eight Vietnamese box turtles in the wild

Turtles are harvested and traded throughout Asia, with demand particularly strong in China. Sadly, many species - dubbed ‘market turtles' - are known to science mostly or only from animals found in commercial trade.

But Bryan Stuart, curator of herpetology for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, has now reported the discovery of one such species in the wild -a major step in advancing Asian turtle conservation efforts.

A conservation breakthrough
In order to conserve threatened Asian turtle species, scientists must first identify their likely habitat. Using biological evidence and knowledge of commercial trade patterns, Stuart and colleagues sought to find a wild home for the Vietnamese box turtle, described by scientists in 1998 but known only from markets.

They determined the turtle was closely related to a couple of species that typically lived in upland, moist, closed canopy forests. They were also aware that the species appeared most often in markets in southern Vietnam, making the Langbian Plateau a perfect place to begin their search.

During three field surveys between July 2010 and January this year, Stuart's colleagues Tri Ly and Huy Duc Hoang from the University of Science in Ho Chi Minh City, along with three local villagers and their turtle tracking dogs, found a total of eight Vietnamese box turtles.

‘This discovery provides the first opportunity to conserve the Vietnamese box turtle,' Stuart said. ‘It also provides hope for determining the wild origin of other rare species that are known to scientists only by turtles bearing price tags.'