Turtles and tortoises join exodus from Hong Kong – 55 from endangered species, most illegally smuggled, moved to reptile centres in Europe
- The reptiles left for Austria and Italy after years in rehabilitation at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in the New Territories. Most were smuggled victims
- Hong Kong is a transport hub for the illegal wildlife trade, with more than 640 tonnes of contraband seized in 2018 and 2019
Social media is overflowing with posts about people leaving Hong Kong as the fifth wave of Covid-19 washes over the city. But in March there was a departure with a difference: 55 endangered turtles and tortoises.
Carefully packed into specially designed live-animal shipment boxes, the reptiles left Hong Kong for their new homes in Europe after spending years in rehabilitation at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), Hong Kong’s only non-governmental wild animal rescue centre.
Gary Ades, head of KFBG’s fauna conservation department, says most of the animals had been illegally smuggled into Hong Kong. Some, he says, were of high conservation importance, such as four Galapagos tortoises, among the rarest species in the world.
These, says Ades, were originally smuggled from the United States in 2016 and had been living at the KFBG Rescue Centre ever since, with one growing from 165 grams to 2.8kg. Galapagos tortoises can weigh over 227kg and live to more than 100 years old.
The European centres, he says, are best equipped to conserve the different species.
“They can provide assurance colonies for the species, many of which are threatened with extinction in the wild,” says Ades. The animals have found new homes at Turtle Island and the Cuora Conservation Centre, both in Austria, while others will enter programmes at Italy’s Zoo Delle Maitine and Safari Ravenna.