Alarming situation of selling turtles on social networks
According to the Center for Nature Education (ENV), this unit has just conducted a survey of violations related to turtles on social media platforms and recorded 212 accounts with 14,786 posts advertising for sale about 50,000 turtles on the Internet.
Another survey by ENV with 1,132 people in Ho Chi Minh City showed that 9% of respondents had bought and released turtles. What is worrying is that most people who implemented it believe that this action brings good luck and contributes to wildlife (ĐVHD) conservation.
Also in Ho Chi Minh City, in March 2026, ENV volunteers supported surveying 278 temples and pagodas and discovered turtles released in ponds and lakes in the premises of 16 temples and pagodas.
Ms. Bui Thi Ha - Deputy Director of ENV - shared: "Turtle populations in the wild in Vietnam are facing the risk of survival due to the rapidly increasing demand for buying and selling turtles for release and ornamental farming. Paying to buy turtles is complicity in the vicious circle that is causing turtles to be exterminated in the wild, pushing many species to the brink of extinction as well as seriously affecting the indigenous ecosystem.
To raise community awareness about the threats to turtles, ENV has just released communication film No. 62, titled "Buying turtles to feed crime". Through this short film, ENV reveals a reality that buying turtles, although it may stem from good intentions, is only enriching criminals and directly threatening the survival of natural turtles.
In addition, ENV is also promoting the broadcasting of turtle protection messages on VOV Traffic channel, the radio channel with the largest number of listeners during peak hours in Ho Chi Minh City. This effort of ENV aims to change the habit of releasing turtles that is quite common here.
Tens of thousands of wild turtles and freshwater turtles are advertised and offered for sale
The situation of illegal turtle trading is very worrying, which has been reflected through information recorded on ENV's database of wildlife violations.
In 2025 alone, ENV recorded 776 violations related to advertising and trading activities of about 23,420 wild turtles and freshwater turtles. ENV's data also shows changes in species in trading activities, with the number of foreign turtle species accounting for an increasing proportion.
Mr. Douglas Hendrie - turtle expert and technical advisor of ENV - shared: "The change in the number and structure of turtle species traded over the past 20 years shows that the natural population of most, if not all, of land turtles and freshwater turtles in Vietnam and countries in the region has been severely reduced.
Some alien turtles such as Indian star turtles were not seen in Vietnam 15 years ago but are now common. Red-eared turtles, one of the most dangerous invasive alien species in the world, are also being widely traded in Vietnam" - Mr. Hendrie added.
Mr. Hendrie also noted that exotic species easily encountered at ornamental fish stores and markets across the country for release such as red-eared turtles or Chinese rock turtles, when released into the environment, will easily establish natural populations in a short time.
This requires functional agencies to take drastic actions to thoroughly end the illegal trade of these species from the beginning.
ENV has launched a strong campaign to minimize the illegal trading of shallow turtles and freshwater turtles.
The campaign aims to help people realize that buying turtles is directly contributing to illegal turtle hunting and trading activities, thereby seriously affecting the natural population of turtle species.
ENV calls on the community to join hands to stop illegal turtle trading by not buying turtles for decoration or release.
Instead of losing money but inadvertently contributing to violations, join hands to preserve wildlife by practical actions such as notifying local authorities about violations of turtles and wildlife or calling the free hotline 1800-1522 of ENV.
