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everal Home’s hingeback tortoises arrived
S at Brookfield Zoo in 2016. They had
been confiscated at a California airport by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
The tortoises began their journey in Togo,
a country in West Africa. If they hadn’t been
confiscated, their journey would have likely
ended in a pet store, in the warehouse of
an online reptile dealer, or in the home
of a collector or someone who wants an
interesting pet.
Home’s hingeback tortoises got their name
from a “hinge” in their carapace, or upper shell.
The hinge allows the animals to fold down
a rear portion of their carapace until it covers
their legs and tail. This cool trick makes them
popular in the illegal market for exotic pets.
Between 2015 and 2019, USFWS placed
48,793 live confiscated animals in approved
placement facilities. Brookfield Zoo is one
of them and has taken in a number of animals
over the years. This is just a fraction of the
number of wild animals that are illegally
trafficked around the world. As many as half
of them die before reaching their destination.
Living animals are smuggled into the U.S.
as cargo on planes, in shipping containers,
or in UPS and FedEx packages. They are
snuck across borders concealed under car mats,
packed in luggage, and hidden in travelers’
pockets or strapped to their bodies. Most
smuggled animals were illegally collected in
the wild and cannot be returned to their
native habitat or released back into the wild.
So Brookfield Zoo and other Association
of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited
facilities provide them with much-needed
care and appropriate housing. Above: Coral is a marine invertebrate, a living animal. Large amounts of coral are illegally collected and sold
Researchers with the Chicago Zoological for use in home aquariums. Removing corals from the ocean adversely affects the many species of fish
Society (CZS), which operates Brookfield Zoo, and invertebrates that rely on it to survive, as well as the species that prey on those animals.
are also involved in studying the animals to
collect scientific data that can help policy
makers around the world develop regulations
to protect them.

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