U.S. Urged to Prohibit Export of Baby Turtles

The sale of baby turtles as pets is banned in the United States, but U.S. turtle farmers ship millions overseas for sale as pets, and researchers say the potentially deadly practice should be banned.

Turtles less than four inches long were banned for commercial distribution in the United States and Canada during the mid-1970s, but 3 million to 4 million are exported every year to Europe, Latin America and Asia, researchers reported in Friday’s Journal of the American Medical Assn. The turtles are potential carriers of a salmonella bacteria that can be fatal.