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The protozoan was more prevalent during the rainy season. 27% of the wild turtles had leeches feeding off them, with no apparent detrimental effect on the hosts. The captive turtles were uninfected by both, but more unhealthy in other ways, wild turtles were better fed, bigger, and exhibited no real damage to the shell or major wounds. [22]
However, by the late 20th century, few turtles were raised for food in the United States, and American restaurants mostly relied on wild-caught turtles. [12] Still, a turtle farm operated in Iowa as of 1999, [25] and in 2012, red-ear sliders raised in Oklahoma were reported to be sold in Virginia and Maryland's Asian supermarkets. [26]
Some other US states, too, have already adopted strict limitations on wild turtle trade. In 2009, South Carolina passed a law (Bill H.3121) restricting interstate and international export of wild-caught turtles (both soft-shell and some other species) to 10 turtles per person at one time, and 20 turtles per person per year. [17]
Cyclemys is a genus of freshwater turtles, commonly referred to as Asian leaf turtles, from the family Geoemydidae. The genus occurs throughout Southeast and South Asia, and currently contains seven species. Asian leaf turtles average 25 cm (9.8 in) in length. They are mostly brown to greenish in color, with round to rectangular shells.
The species is endemic to freshwater habitats in the United States. M. temminckii is one of the heaviest living freshwater turtles in the world. [4] It is the largest freshwater species of turtle in North America. [5] It is often associated with, but not closely related to, the common snapping turtle, which is in the genus Chelydra.
The semi-aquatic turtles that spend some time in the water, some on land, tend to have webbed feet with claws, while the fully aquatic marine turtles have flippers – and they can swim fast.
Heidi, who only has three flippers, was saved from a ghost net in the Maldives and is now settling in at the National Marine Aquarium.
The study counted a total of 10,466 turtles across 268 turtle races, of which 59% were North American Box Turtles and 20% were Painted turtles. The authors surmised these numbers were atypically low when the study was conducted, and would likely be much higher in a typical year. The vast majority of turtles were believed to be wild caught.