DAILY TIMES (Maryville, Tennessee) 12 September 06 TWRA arrests man for selling turtles (Darren Dunlap)
Turtles landed an Elmhurst, N.Y., man in the Blount County Jail Saturday.
Hong Ta Show, 45, was selling turtles at the Green Acres Flea Market on Alcoa Highway, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Show was charged with 10 counts of illegal possession of wildlife. The turtles were red-eared sliders, a common turtle often kept as a pet, said Joe Everett, a TWRA officer.
It's not a trade issue, he said. It's a health issue. Turtles can carry salmonella. It is illegal to sell any turtle in Tennessee.
Pet stores in Blount County don't sell them, either.
Show had 38 turtles at the flea market, all in individual plastic containers. They were alive and about two-inches long.
Jim Dykes, of Rainforest Adventures Discovery Zoo in Sevierville, said there's also a federal law that prohibits sale of turtles under four inches. Tennessee doesn't allow the sale of any turtle, regardless of size.
Rainforest Adventures is able to keep turtles because it's an "educational facility," said Dykes, a Blount County resident.
The discovery zoo's Web site (rfadventures.com) states the red-eared slider's range is the Eastern and Southeastern United States, but the turtle's habitat can be "virtually any body of fresh water — prefers slow moving streams, ponds and lakes."
The turtle presents a bigger problem than its potential to spread of disease, according to Dykes. People get the turtles as pets and then later release them into the wild. The red-eared slider is displacing some native species in China and Asia, according to Rainforest Adventure Discovery Zoo's Web site.
Agents were tipped off about the turtle sale last week.
Everett ran into a language barrier during the arrest, however. Show's native language is Chinese, and he speaks almost no English.
Everett had to get an interpreter through 911, who connected the wildlife agent with someone who could translate by conference call.
"By speakerphone, we were able to communicate," said Everett.
Show was booked into the Blount County Jail at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. He posted a $10,000 bond and was released at 5:45 a.m. Sunday.
Each charge of possession of illegal wildlife carried a $1,000 bond. Show is scheduled to appear in Blount County General Sessions Court for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
TWRA arrests man for selling turtles