$20K–$100K per turtle in China
A golden coin turtle can sell for $20,000–$40,000 in China, while a Yunnan box turtle — thought extinct for 50 years — can fetch $100,000 or more.
Where this was said
1 in 5 Reptiles Threatened: The Conservation Case for Monsters of God
At 1:53:23 · chapter starts 1:51:40
Jeremy McBride steps back from individual stories to frame the stakes: one in five reptile species is now threatened with extinction, a figure growing at an accelerating rate. [1] — Jeremy McBride "1 in 5 reptile species threatened: One in every five reptile species is now threatened with extinction, a figure that is growing at an acce…" 1:49:56 Unlike pandas or polar bears, reptiles don't generate the public emotional response that funds conservation campaigns — they can't be hugged, they don't breastfeed their young, they trigger deep genetic discomfort in many viewers. Eric argues this is precisely why a documentary told through bizarre, memorable human characters is the only way to get mainstream audiences to care about the extinction of a Fijian iguana or a Philippine crocodile. The challenge is severe: the show received notes from HBO that some footage was too brutal to air, not because it showed graphic violence but because the sheer industrial scale of the reptile trade — boxes of animals dehydrated to death, mass mortality in shipping — is hard to watch.
A Single Turtle Worth More Than a Tiger
Golden coin turtles sell for $20,000 to $40,000 in China. Yunnan box turtles — once thought extinct for 50 years — can fetch $100,000 or more. Pound for pound, rare turtles may be the most valuable animals on earth, yet almost nobody is talking about it.
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