Fish and Wildlife seeks federal protections for snapping turtles

Next up on the federal government’s list of protect species: snapping turtles.

A new rule proposed by the Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday would put the common snapping turtles — as well as the Florida soft-shell turtle, the smooth soft-shell turtle and the spiny soft-shell turtle — on an international protections list, The Hill reported.

All the species hail from freshwater. The FWS said the snapping turtles are needful of the protection because they’re being harvested for meat — and for pets.

The protected status would mean the FWS would have the power to monitor the international turtle trade — a massive business that saw the export of more than 811,000 snapping turtles alone in 2011, The Hill reported.

“In general, the species is marked by a life-history strategy of slow recruitment, late maturity, long lifespan and high adult survivorship,” FWS wrote in the Federal Register. “Any given population’s persistence is dependent on high adult survivorship, which makes the species vulnerable to directed anthropogenic activities, such as collecting.”

The public has 60 days to comment.