Testudostan: Our Post-Cold War Global Exploitation of a Noble Tortoise (Russian or Horsfields Tortoise) By David S. Lee/The Tortoise Reserve/PO Box 7082/White Lake, NC 27614 torres...@aol.com Katrina Smith/PO Box 22321/Baltimore, MD 21203 Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 45(1):1-9, 2010 ________________________________________________________ Abstract
>From both the point of view of a person seeking a pet and from a conversation perspective Russian tortoises are one of the worst possible candidates available from the wild-caught reptile pet trade. Yet, for a variety of political and economic reasons this small tortoise has become one of the most commonly marketed species. Since the 1970s well over one million wild-caught adult Russian tortoises have been imported into the U.S. alone. Probably less than one or two percent of these are alive today. ________________________________________________________________________ This is a 9 page paper. Email me at asalzb...@herpdigest.org for a copy in pdf format. Allen Salzberg Member of IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group Publisher/Editor of HerpDigest. The Only Free Weekly E-Zine That Reports on The Latest News on Herpetological Conservation, Husbandry, and Science www.herpdigest.org. President of HerpDigest.org, the NGO that publishes HerpDigest.
