Two US turtle species -- desert tortoises in the West and gopher tortoises in the Southeast -- are being decimated by a fatal respiratory-tract infection that they may have contracted from imported tortoises unleashed in their habitat. More than 50 percent of the individuals in some desert-tortoise populations now carry this contagious, incurable disease, pressing the species toward extinction. Recently the malady has shown up in North American box turtles.
Quickening the spread of turtle disease here and abroad is the belief of some Asians that good karma can be had by being kind to captive turtles by setting them free. In America and around the world you can buy wild-caught specimens for the express purpose of releasing them.