Threats to Terrapins

Following yesterday post on Threats to Sea Turtles, in today's post we would be discussing about the threats faced by Terrapins.

Terrapins have very similar threats like those faced by sea turtles. The threats that they faced are

• Poaching (collected and sold for food)
• Eggs consumption (demand for turtle eggs as it is a local delicacy)
• Development (disrupt their natural habitat)
• Fisheries activities (innocent turtles get caught in fishing nets)
• Overfishing (scarce food source to the terrapins)

However the approached to the conservation of these terrapins are a little different from sea turtles. Since these turtles are confined to their natural habitat, near the rivers or swamps, it is much easier to pass a law or even designate an whole area as a national park to protect these endangered animals.

Conservation methods are easier as we would not need for inter-country treaties like those required for sea turtle conservation. However like the sea turtle conservation, even with laws or treaties in place, we still face an uphill better when it comes to enforcement.

References:

• www.turtleconservationcentre.org/resources/educational-posters

[Images have been taken and used with permissions from Turtle Conservation Centre (TCC)]