More Reasons Not to Abandon the Baby Turtle Ban

Louisiana turtle farmers are suing the FDA to lift a 35-year-old ban on the sale of baby red-eared slider turtles, saying they desperately need the business and now have efficient ways to eliminate salmonella, which was the reason for the 1975 ban on the U.S. sale of turtles smaller than 4 inches.

A major reason why those of us who support the ban want it to stay in place is because, although the baby turtles may be salmonella-free, they can still continue to shed the bacteria throughout their lives, wreaking havoc on humans and wildlife alike.

When I wrote about this last month, I didn’t realize there were equally compelling reasons to keep the ban intact, and those reasons are practically in my own backyard. The Madrona Marsh Preserve in the Los Angeles area is a 10-acre refuge — basically a suburban pond — and many turtle owners apparently think it’s the perfect habitat in which to abandon their turtles. That’s right, when the adorable, silver-dollar-sized baby red-eared sliders illegally bought at flea markets, on the internet or elsewhere grow up to become not-so-cute, foot-long, high-maintenance adults, they’re often dumped.

Although the turtles can live to be 50 or older in a proper pond, they have difficulty surviving in places like Madrona Marsh. The Daily Breeze reported last week that officials are finding increasing numbers of the turtles either dead or sick from extreme dehydration. They’re also easy prey for raccoons and other wildlife.

"In the last couple of weeks I've found three dead ones," Tracy Drake, manager of the preserve, told the newspaper. "We have people that go up to the gate at night and push them through."

In a fact sheet, the U.S. Geological Society says that throughout its nonindigenous range, the turtles "are introduced primarily through pet releases and escapes; a situation which has continued for several decades since the 1930s, reaching a peak during the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles television cartoon craze of the late 1980s-early 1990s."

Sadly, the turtles have no mutant ninja powers in real life, and rarely grow up to become teenagers.

"The animal trade business is a little scary and we see the dark side of it here," Drake said. "They have their lives and personalities. When they get abandoned, I don't know if they think like we do, but they know they've been abandoned."

The dumped turtles that are strong or lucky enough to survive have become a major threat to western pond turtles, a species native to California. Because of the sliders' aggressive eating and reproducing habits, the USGS has labeled them "clearly invasive."

Since Madrona Marsh represents just one small area inundated with illegally obtained sliders — turtles that carry salmonella, are capable of destroying other species and are typically abandoned and left to die by dehydration or starvation — what’s the point of lifting the ban and opening the floodgates for thousands of more unwanted turtles?

Tell the FDA to continue banning the sale of baby red-eared slider turtles.

Photo credit: Alan Vernon