Short Wave - A Better Life For Trafficked Turtles

Episode Date: November 6, 2024

In North-Central New Jersey, there is a backyard teeming with around 200 turtles. Many of these shelled creatures have been rescued from the smuggling trade and are now being nursed back to health in order to hopefully be returned to the wild. Science reporter Ari Daniel joins host Regina G. Barber to tell the story behind one man's efforts to care for these turtles and to ensure they have a chance at another (better) life. Read more of Ari's reporting.Have an idea for a future episode? We'd love to know — email us at [e-mail]! Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. All right, short wavers. Today we're heading to a couple of secret places in New Jersey. Wait, New Jersey. Did I read that right, Ari? You sure did, Gina. Okay, Ari Daniel, esteemed science reporter, I'm going to tell you something. I've actually never been to New Jersey.

Oh, you got to go, Regina. It is a great place, delightful place. And, of course, it's rather well mapped. But New Jersey turns out to be ground zero. for this turtle rehabilitation and release program that I came across. Okay, rehabilitation from what? From having been poached. Of course, I've heard about this.

Poachers, they snatch up turtles. They're illegally trafficked, like, all over the world because they can fetch, like, a really hefty sum. Exactly. Okay, so what did you find? I found a lot of turtles being nursed back to health and really thriving. And I also got to see a lucky few for the first time in the history, of a program, some 30 years old, be among those returned to the wild.

Today on the show, a second life for confiscated turtles. What happens when they're removed from their habitat and how science is creating a new start for some of these colorful, slow-moving pioneers? I'm Regina Barber. You're listening to Shortwave, the science podcast from NPR. Okay, Ari, so tell me where we're heading first in New Jersey. Right, okay. We're going to start in a sizable backyard in the North Carolina.

central part of the state. It's a place filled with enclosures and tanks that are just teeming with turtles. Individuals, I'm at about the 200 mark. If I had room here, I would have thousands of turtles. This is Maurice Rodriguez, co-founder of the Turtle Conservancy and Total Turtle Softie. He's excited to show me his incredible collection. We start with the ones that were poached outside the U.S. And here we have a species from northern Argentina. He shows me turtles from Australia, Brazil, China, the Congo, India, Indonesia, New Guinea, Uruguay. Wow, and that's quite the international lineup. It is.

Maurice also has this turtle from Myanmar that he's especially fond of, a big green Burmese roof turtle with a distinctive upturned nose and a mouth that makes it look like the animal's always smiling. The only turtle I really name, her name is Ruby, because Myanmar is known for its ruby trade. It's like the most precious, you know, gem that they have, and she's my most precious gem here at my house. Maurice has plans to make a special greenhouse for Ruby. I want to build it big enough where I can go snorkel with her and just go swimming whenever I want with her. Oh, you can really hear his affection for these turtles. I mean, it's something that his partner, Fumiji, confirmed.

We've been together for 15 years, so a lot of turtling. Feeding sick turtles with the chopsticks. Oh, really? Yes. Do you know he hauls all the leaves from my neighborhood so that he can pile the leaves in the playpen? I'm not playpen. Turtle pen.

So he goes through all that effort just like to make sure they don't get too cold, like in the seasons. In part. But for some turtle species, making sure they're exposed. to the cycle of the seasons is necessary for breeding. This is important for conserving some of these species that have low numbers in the wild and to get turtle numbers up more generally.

Oh, cool. Give them that cool period that they need where they cool down, they stop eating, they go a little dormant, they rest, basically. And then spring, temperatures start to rise, and that's when they get active in the breeding season, the males breed with the females. That's important if a turtle is becoming extinct,

or there's a problem in the habitat. You need to be able to set up an insurance colony. Maurice is a pro when it comes to getting turtles to reproduce. He holds up this saw-shelled turtle, Gina, from Australia, the size of a dinner plate. Hold on. I want to show you something. If you take your finger, here, get your finger. So I gently push the side of the turtle's body. She's full of eggs. You can feel the eggs.

Wow, they feel kind of like a little sack of beans. Yeah, yeah. It's probably going to be in the next few weeks. You'll want to lay those eggs. Wow, I'm getting so swept away in these images that I forget, like, the reason Maurice has all these turtles is sad, right? Like, they've been poached. Absolutely. And so then he walks me over to an outdoor pen.

It's filled with shrubs and plants. And pretty soon I spot a dark shell that's splashed with bright yellow. There's a box turtle in the corner here. Yeah. I would put this species up against any other turtle species on the planet. in terms of beauty. That's what makes them valuable. Their value in the black market has skyrocketed.

Which puts them at risk of being poached. I mean, you can FedEx reptiles, literally. But won't they be caught? Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Inside this pen, there are 98 box turtles that were among those confiscated last year at LAX, the Los Angeles airport. They were headed out to the pet trade in Asia.

When federal fish and wildlife found these turtles, stuffed into multiple suitcases, each one had been duct taped shut and placed in a sock. They were duct taped? Ugh, that's awful. Smuggling trade is just a cruel thing for the animals. You know, with the stress, everything, it's just terrible. Maurice is often among the first to know when animals are confiscated. So when turtles show up at an airport, he tends to get a phone call to see if he can care for them. So every year I seem to have to expand because the rate of the confiscation seemed to be going.

up. Maurice and the team at the Turtle Conservancy nursed the animals back to health, with the hope of returning them to the wild. That is the endgame here. And endgame that until recently just wasn't possible. You don't want to just get a turtle and just throw it anywhere. So why is it possible now? Now DNA technology has gotten good enough and cheap enough, Gina, that Maurice and his colleagues can use the genetics of certain species to pinpoint an individual's rough origins. Oh. Oh, okay, but not for every species. Right, not everyone. Maurice says sometimes the turtles come from a part of the world in turmoil or without sufficient law enforcement.

So repatriation like this just isn't feasible since they'll be poached again. That's awful. But he shows me a group of wood turtles that have been matched to a population living in Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania agreed to take them back until the while. So did you get to see any of these turtles being released? Yes. And it was the highlight. That's so cool.

Highlight of my visit. Earlier that day, I stopped at another undisclosed location. This time in northern New Jersey, it's warm and sunny, and a couple dozen people are gathering beside a barn. So it feels like a party atmosphere. Yeah, this is a party. This is a big deal, you know. Maurice is glowing. He's been waiting for this day for almost 30 years.

Oh, wow. He gestures to a group of boxes sitting in the grass. Inside there are 38 turtles, each one the size of my outstretched hand. Their dark shells have streaks of bright yellow, others are splotched and brilliant orange. And these are all box turtles. You got it. Okay. Obviously, I find them beautiful.

He says nearly all the box turtles here today were once on their way to Hong Kong. But today, they're being released back into New Jersey. Okay, y'all. Hey, listen, thanks for coming. This is Brian Zaradi. He's addressing the small group. and he's a principal zoologist with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Fish and Wildlife. His team's partnered with the Turtle Conservancy on today's release.

We're going to hike about 10 or so minutes back into the woods. It's a quick in-and-out trip. Brian says box turtles aren't endangered. Oh, okay. But state and federal officials are worried about their numbers. And today's release adds a few more animals to the ranks. So we'll go out there and release some turtles. Let's go.

Let's give these guys a second chance. Today's something of a family affair. Brian's 8-year-old son Max is part of the group. How are you feeling about today? Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good. I get to hang out with my dad and my dad's friends and stuff. Soon, we reach a slight rise between a couple swampier spots. The group stops in a small clearing.

Looks like they're opening the tops of the boxes. Some of the box turtles pull themselves up and crane their little necks over the sides. Each one has a small radio transmitter attached to its shell to track its movements for a period. All right, guys. Don't let him go. What are you doing, Max? I'm putting this guy back in its home in the forest.

Oh, my gosh. He is so cute. I brought my kids, Lela and Raja, along as well. Oh, cool. Yeah, they loved it. I'm lifting up the turtles. Where do I put it? I think you can put it.

Where does he put it? You can put it anywhere he wants. They're free now. Yeah. In less than a minute, the boxes are empty, and the turtles are home. That's it. I find Maurice off to the side. He's taking it all in,

hoping this approach can serve as a model for releasing captive turtles in lots of places. If this is a success, New Jersey Fish and Wildlife can then pitch it to other neighboring states and across the country, maybe even Canada. This is going to be the beginning of something kind of amazing. I mean, these are animals that live longer than us humans.

They deserve that, you know. I'm a little emotional. Yeah, they just deserve a better life. Ari, thank you so much for bringing us this story about these turtles that are getting a new shot at life. My pleasure, Gina. Show Waivers, if you liked this episode, check out our episode on Wildlife Trafficking. We'll link it in our episode notes. Also, rate and review us on our podcasting app.

It helps our show. This episode was produced by Jessica Young. It was edited by a showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. The audio engineer was Quasi Lee. Beth Donovan is our senior director and Colin Campbell is our senior vice president of podcasting strategy. I'm Regina Barber. Thank you for listening to Shortwave from NPR.