Philippine Turtles At Risk Due To Chinese Smuggling; Species Found Only On One Island (VIDEO)

Rare forest turtles found only on one island in the Philippines are at risk due to the high rate of Chinese demand, local wildlife officials announced on Sunday. Found only in the western-most island in the Philippines, Palawan, Philippine forest turtles (Siebenrockiella leytensis) are continuously smuggled by poachers to China, endangering their existence, according to Adelina Villena, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development's (PCSD) chief of staff.

"They sell them mainly to the Chinese exotic food and medicine trade and the pet trade. They are smuggled out of the country, some are even traded on the high seas," Villena said, according to the Agence France-Presse.

"They are easy to find and easy to catch because they don't move quickly. They can't really escape," she added.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) included the species, locally known as the Palawan forest turtle, on the "critically endangered" list. The turtle carries its brown or black shell that can be identified through a stripe on his head that goes beyond its ears. The punishment for capturing these turtles is only six to 12 years and offenders can bail themselves out too. "The penalty is so small and the profits are so huge. That is our big problem," Villena said, according to GMA News.

On Oct. 18, 979 turtles were confiscated from alleged wildlife traffickers, Joel Sulayaw, Gerald Favila and Benjie Dimasupil, in the town of Taytay in Palawan. They were raided by teams from PCSD and enforcers from the Provincial Law Enforcement Task Force (PLETF.) The rescuers brought the rescued turtles to Puerto Princesa to be handled properly, according to Palawan News.

Wildlife trade is prominent in the Chinese black market. The price of freshwater turtles range from 250PHP to 300 PHP ($4.3-$6.44 U.S.).

Watch the video below to learn more about these endangered turtles.