Piles upon piles of ambos in the back room of a store in the Qing Ping market can be seen below.
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CITES protected chelonians in the markets
Cuora amboinensis - Malaysian/South Asian box turtle
50 RMB ($6 US) per kilogram
Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, ? China, India, Indonesia : Bali, Jawa, Kalimantan, Lesser Sunda Is, Moluccas, Sulawesi, Sumatera, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia : Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
CITES II
The Rodney Dangerfield term "No Respect" comes to mind for this intriguing species. Thousands upon thousands of these animals lined the back rooms and sorting bins of numerous shops throughout both of Guangzhou's markets. Hundreds to thousands were being repackaged (with many of them getting a rapid black paint job to cover up the shell defects) to be sent on to other markets throughout the country in a shop off the Qing Ping market area.
Piles upon piles of ambos in the back room of a store in the Qing Ping market can be seen below.
The largest (unfortunately dead) amboinensis ever seen by the photographer is pictured below in the middle right of the picture. This animal was about the size of a small adult redfoot female. The other ambos around it in this picture are typical large adult 5-6 inch animals.
Turtle sorting in the back rooms of many of the shops is not a pretty sight. As the picture below shows, animals are being sorted according to species, size, and condition. After being sorted, they are literally being tossed into piles, into bins, or onto the concrete floor. The sound of a turtle meeting a concrete floor is not a very nice sound.
Pictured below are multiple crates of ambos in the Guangzhou Chao Tou market
World Chelonian Trust
www.chelonia.org
PO Box 1445
Vacaville, CA
95696
