Unique pig-nosed turtle is over-harvested in New Guinea

[muriel_volestrangler]

Numbers of pig-nosed turtles have declined steeply over the past 30 years, researchers have discovered.

The unique reptile has become an international conservation icon, due to it having no close relatives and being considered the turtle most adapted to life underwater in freshwater ponds and rivers.

Yet demand for its eggs and meat in Papua New Guinea, one of the turtle's main homes, has led to the species being dramatically over-harvested by indigenous people.
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That is mainly due to the growth in human populations, a greater propensity for villages to establish on riverbanks following the cessation of tribal warfare and the introduction of new technologies, such as modern fishing gear, she said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14013362

Development can screw up things in a variety of ways ...