The Daily Oakland Press
September 26, 2004

TURTLES IN TROUBLE
Detroit Zoo works to save the disappearing species

by Bob Gross

The Detroit Zoological Institute, 8450 W. 10 Mile Road, Royal Oak, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day. Call (248) 398-0900 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.

They've existed for millions of years, but aquatic turtles - both marine and freshwater - and tortoises are in trouble. Susan Tellem, executive director of American Tortoise Rescue in Malibu, Calif., estimates that all chelonians - from the magnificent sea turtles to the common pond dwellers basking on logs - could be extinct in 50 years.

That's why the Detroit Zoological Institute is pondering a major turtle and tortoise conservation effort, an initiative that could surpass in scope the zoo's award-winning National Amphibian Conservation Center, which opened in 2000 at a cost of $6 million.

"In the situation of chelonians, the primary pressure in the West is habitat destruction and habitat loss - and habitat fragmentation," says Ron Kagan, executive director of the Detroit Zoological Institute. "A bird can cross the highway. A turtle really can't.

"And while its armor ... is formidable, it was designed to withstand something like a predator, not a 6,000-pound SUV."

There are 10 species in Michigan, says zoo veterinarian Chris Tabaka. The spotted turtle is endangered, and three others are of special concern.

"For example, the wood turtle - they're finding more and more that raccoons are learning to kill the adults, which is decimating the population," he says. "Also, a large amount of development, especially along the western side of the state ... the turtles found in that area, eastern box turtles, people take them as pets."

In China and southeast Asia, however, a rising middle class is contributing to the rapid decline of turtle and tortoise populations, he said. Turtles are used both as food and in traditional Chinese medicine.

"China went on the world currency market about 12, 14 years ago now," he says, "and once it hit the world market, it created a whole new middle class, which, when you have a country of 1.2 billion that have the old cultural norms, that's just an explosion. And when that happened, China's turtle populations were decimated ...

"It acts like a giant vacuum, almost like a black hole. It just starts sucking in turtles from all around it, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, they just start flowing into China to build the demand," says Tabaka, who has done turtle research in China and Asia.

Tellem says the demand reaches across the Pacific.

"They've eaten all of their turtles, and now they're importing ours," she says.

Tabaka says one of the thrusts of chelonian conservation is to maintain captive populations that can be reintroduced into the wild.

"The habitat itself is still intact," he says. "It's just a matter of changing the cultural norms, for example in China, and once that's done, we'll be able to release them back into the wild."

The plight of the chelonians has significance for all animals, Kagan says.

"If an animal that is essentially built as a tank ... if those animals are severely at risk in nature, what chance does a frog or a toad have, what chance does some small animal have that doesn't have this amazing armor?" he asks.

"You can almost ask: Is nothing safe?"

History's top turtles

History's most famous turtle is probably that unnamed character who defeats the hare in one of Aesop's fables. But he's not the only celebrated chelonian. Here are a few more:

• Tooter Turtle: Animated turtle from the early 1960s who traveled back in time with the aid of Wizard the Lizard. Remember "Help me, Mr. Wizard!" and the magic words: "Drizzle, drazzle, drozzle, drome; Time for this one to come home"?
• Touche Turtle: One of the lesser luminaries in the Hanna-Barbera pantheon that includes Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw. Armed with a sword, wearing a big hat with a plume and helped by faithful sheepdog sidekick Dum Dum, Touche was a swashbuckler who rescued fair maidens.
• Cecil Tortoise: One of the few Looney Toons characters who ever got the better of Bugs Bunny. Cecil first appeared in the 1941 cartoon, "Tortoise Beats Hare," a parody of the famous fable. He appeared again in 1943 in "Tortoise Wins by a Hare," and in 1947 in "Rabbit Transit," where he sported a rocket-powered shell.
• Franklin the Turtle: Growing young turtle who is the subject of both a series of children's books and an animated television show created by Nelvana Entertainment. Catchy theme sung by Canadian recording artist Bruce Cockburn.
• Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael: Collectively, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, four pet store escapees that mutate into pizza-eating crimefighters named for Italian Renaissance artists after coming into contact with a radioactive slime.
• Yertle the Turtle: Dr. Seuss created this egomaniacal king of the pond who got his comeuppance when a turtle named Mack burped, bringing down Yertle and setting the rest of the turtles free.
• Mackinac Island: Several Native American legends claim that the island was formed when a giant turtle surfaced in a world of water, offering his back as a haven. "Mackinac" is an Ottawa word meaning "great turtle."
• Great A'tuin: In the mythology of British fantasy writer Terry Pratchett's Discworld series of books, the astrochelonian Great A'tuin carries upon its back four massive elephants that in turn support the Discworld.
• Terrapin: Mascot for the University of Maryland sports teams; usually shortened to Terps.
• Death by tortoise: According to legend, Aeschylus, the father of Greek drama, was killed when a bird of prey - mistaking his bald head for a shell-cracking rock - dropped a tortoise on his cranium.
• Mock Turtle: Sorrowful creature from "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll. The Mock Turtle sings to Alice about the Lobster-Quadrille and the glories of Turtle Soup.
• Crush: Helpful surfer dude sea turtle from the Pixar hit "Finding Nemo." Memorable quotation: "Cuz we were like, 'Woaaaah,' and I was like, 'Woaaaah,' and you were like, 'Woaaahh ...' "

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