Occurance
Chinemys reevesii occur in Middle- und Southeast-China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.
They inhabit shallow streams and canals, ponds, and marshland, and can also be found in
rice fields. The turtle is non-nocturnal and regularly leaves the water to bask on the shore or
on rocks and logs.
In China more than half of the species that live there is endangered. They are caught in
large quantities and brought alive and stacked into boxes to
chinese markets. Many of them are used for food and frequently boiled alive. The rest is
used for so called traditional medicine, to produce aphrodisiacs, or for other purposes
thought to be beneficial.
Chinemys reevesii was once very common in China. Now it is easier and cheaper for the chinese
pet trader to import Trachemys scripta elegans from the USA. Chinemys nigricans (kwangtungensis) and
Chinemys megacephala are rarely found in the wild. [Source of information:
Nytts].
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