Shellshocked II: Turtle Thieves

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

African American History And Culture, American History, Exhibits, Dc, History, Science, Sidedoor, History Of The World, Society & Culture, The Smithsonian, Washington, Natural History, Pop Culture, Smithsonian, Exhibit, Tony Cohn, Zoo, National Museum, Air And Space, National Zoo, Art19, Museum, Postal Museum

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Turtles are built like tiny tanks—ancient, armored, and famously tough. But in the modern world, that toughness may be their greatest vulnerability. In part two of our turtle two-parter, we dive into the shadowy world of turtle trafficking, where backyard collectors, international smugglers, and unsuspecting pet owners all play a role. From sting operations to turtle triage, we meet the unlikely defenders working to stop the trade—and care for the reptiles caught in the middle. Because once a turtle is taken from the wild, getting it home again is a lot harder than you’d think.

Guests

Thomas Akre, head of the Turtle Conservation Ecology Lab at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

John (JD) Kleopfer, State Herpetologist for the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

First Sergeant Tim Dooley, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Special Operations for the Virginia Conservation Police, Department of Wildlife Resources

Connor Gillespie, Director of Outreach at the Wildlife Center of Virginia

Dr. Karra Pierce, Director of Veterinary Services at the Wildlife Center of Virginia

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.7	I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:29.4	One Fine Morning. One fine morning, Juan Yi-Iing strides out of an Airbnb on the shores of Lake Wallace.
0:34.7	It's summertime in Vermont, and by the looks of it, a nice day for a paddle.
0:39.3	But as she pulls an inflatable kayak to the shores of the lake, what she doesn't know is that she is being watched.
0:44.3	This isn't the first time Ing has rented this very Airbnb,
0:49.3	and her husband has rented his own place,
0:52.3	on the opposite side of Lake Wallace, in Canada.
0:56.4	He's preparing to launch his own boat.
1:01.2	Ing heaves a duffel bag aboard the boat and starts to push it toward the water.
1:08.1	And just as she's about to shove off, border patrol agents surround her, flash their badges,
1:14.8	and when they peer into her half-zipped-up duffel bag, they see socks.
1:20.8	But these aren't innocent gym socks.
1:23.3	These socks are moving.
1:25.3	When agents searched the bag, they found 29 of these live eastern box turtles wrapped in socks.
1:33.3	In June, Juan Yi Ying was arrested for the alleged attempted smuggling of 29 eastern box turtles from the U.S.
1:39.3	He pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of unlawfully attempting to export and send those turtles
1:45.8	out of the U.S. According to messages on Ing's cell phone, investigators say she planned
1:51.4	to smuggle the turtles into Canada and then sell them in Hong Kong. She is sketched.
1:55.6	Turtles with colorful markings are prized on the illegal global pet trade market.
2:01.6	Turtles, like the ones in Collected, make valuable exotic pets.
2:07.6	A lot of these turtles are sought after for their looks, the shape and the color and the patterns,
	...

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