Slip and Sliders

From The Korea Times comes this report on the invasion of the American red-eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans) in Korea. The turtles were imported into Korea from the late 1970s until they were banned in 2001. By that time over 6 million of them had been brought in to the country, first as part of a religious ritual (see this previous blog entry for a similar story from Hong Kong) and later as pets. They are now taking over many freshwater habitats, where they consume massive quantities of plant material over their 20-year life span. The article also briefly discusses other invasive species in Korea, the majority of them from America.

Thanks to a member of the ALIENS-L listserver for posting a link to this story. The importation of red-eared sliders is also banned in Europe.