Malik Hamideh

Professor Walker

ENVR-1302-002

31 March 2024

Activity 3.7 - Wildlife Trafficking Online (Core Activity)

Section A will be the facts. Use these labels. Do not write an essay, write as a datasheet.

• Common name: Keeled Box Turtle

• Scientific name: Cuora mouhotii

• IUCN Category (vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered, etc.):

• Endangered

• Geographic range: (This may be several sentences)

• In Bangladesh, northeast India, northern Myanmar, southern China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hunan, Yunnan, Fujian? ), Lao PDR, and Viet Nam, Cuora Mouhotii is found in isolated, discontinuous occurrences.

• Habitat (system and type with details): (This may be several sentences.)

• Cuora Mouhotii is found in lowland marsh environments but is mostly found in tropical wet evergreen forests with little undergrowth and leaf litter. There seems to be a correlation between limestone/karst topography and its overall distribution pattern. 

• Assessment information (use IUCN dropdown for Assessment Information in Detail): (This may be several sentences.)

• Cuora Mouhotii populations have been drastically reduced as a result of highly intense collecting across their range. The remaining populations are still being collected from. It is reasonable to assume that the species has lost 50–80% of its population within the last three generations, or 75 years, making it an endangered species. 

• Threats: (May be several sentences.) 

•  Overexploitation of Cuora Mouhotii as a food source and pet is a threat to the species. It is also occasionally sold in China and Vietnam for therapeutic uses, albeit these are not its primary goals. Because it is a specialist in old-growth forests, the species is extremely vulnerable to habitat destruction. It is harvested in large numbers for the East Asian consumer trade and is consumed locally.

• Use and Trade: (May be several sentences.)

• In the area, Cuora Mouhotii is used as food. According to reports, they are often bred and shipped to the pet trade in the USA and Europe.

• Appendix listing and related countries with Source Code(s) (the letters W, X, R, etc.):

• W

• URL for the Google Sheet:

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E6Fcf3oflVdNY5fvjYovXYnIuRZupyP85OSDaCzIYMw/edit?usp=sharing

Note: You may use the IUCN Text Summary, but do not copy it. Write your own report. Cite and reference as required.

Section B will be a narrative of your data gathering.

This narrative is a 250- to 400-word “story” about what patterns you see in the class Google sheet, how you perceived this activity, how you went about gathering the data, and your impression on wildlife trafficking online. Use the vocabulary of the class and of the topic. Unlike Part A, this is more essay/narrative style.​​

Our Google sheets show a pattern of several animal species being hunted and marketed as wildlife. Numerous of these creatures are very ill or at risk of extinction. The majority of the states and cities I observed were next to other states. I was shocked to learn that the wildlife trade existed in cities that were both far from us and in other locations.

In my view, promoting wildlife online is a rather simple task for anybody to do. Buying animals from overseas is a relatively simple process when you shop online. Some individuals lack the knowledge necessary to understand that these species are going extinct. Furthermore, the insects that are offered are steady but vanishing. The desire to own creatures from different corners of the world that do not perish is difficult to comprehend. There should be no missing animals. However, there needs to be a more compelling cause than the animal trade if the animals vanish. There are severe issues here that need to be addressed. We can determine how many animals are missing as a result of this trade by gathering data and examining the data in the tables.

By using their animals, everyone demonstrates to the world at large that human trafficking occurs everywhere. As there are several websites available worldwide to sell these exotic animals, there is a pet trade in place. We looked through Craigslist advertising for birds and reptiles to get these postings, and we then cross-referenced the names listed with the most popular Google searches for those species. The scientific name allowed one to verify if the species was under Red List review or an endangered species, but the common name was more easily found. It is possible to somewhat alter the language used to generate the list, for example, by omitting certain names or substituting lowercase names for the species name. 

Include a screenshot, clip, or image(s) of your web finding (ex. a picture of the animal from Facebook or a screenshot/clip of the ad.) Include a caption, complete citation, and complete reference otherwise, you’d be plagiarizing from an animal trader!

“Box Turtle - Pets.” Craigslist, 8 Mar. 2024, dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pet/d/duncanville-box-turtle/7725133104.html. 

Caption: “Baby Box turtles: Hatchling from long term captive adults. Feeding well and ready to be rehomed. $80 Text show contact info . Thanks”

 “The Reptile Shop.” Facebook, 6 Nov. 2018, www.facebook.com/thereptileshop/photos/a.1349824891698214/2727156343965055/?type=3. 

Caption: “Grand Cayman #Blue #Iguana (Cyclura Lewisi) hybrid, juvenile, male. On display in our shop in #beautiful #temecula #california for Sale.

Works cited

University), Pipeng Li (Shenyang Normal, et al. “The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 13 Mar. 2018, www.iucnredlist.org/species/163414/1006285#habitat-ecology.