Chaco Tortoises (Geochelone Chilensis)

In April 2024 an exotic Chaco tortoise was dumped at a popular pet store in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. This incident is closely linked to a large illegal trade network in exotic pest animals uncovered within Victoria and across Australia in the last 12-months.

Chaco tortoises are native to Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay in South America. This species has never been found in Victoria before and the only other known specimens in Australia are kept in captivity at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. This species is rare in Australia and indicates an increase in the trade of exotic pets from overseas.

The Chaco Tortoise is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature‘s (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. The species is under considerable pressure in its native range due to poaching for the pet trade and habitat destruction for agriculture. Each year approximately 3,000 Chaco tortoises are illegally exported for the pet trade. This number represents only a fraction of the estimated 75,000 tortoises collected from the wild in Argentina, where they are kept as domestic pets (Waller 1987). Large areas of their habitat are being cleared for agricultural purposes, reducing the availability of suitable living environments and further endangering their survival. Habitat destruction also makes the tortoises more vulnerable to poaching.

Chaco tortoises exported as part of the illegal pet trade can suffer cruel and inhumane conditions during shipment causing excessive stress to the animal. Many specimens captured in the wild to be sold as pets often die in transit from starvation, dehydration, or unsuspected disease. The disease risk associated with this species is not worth the risk to Victoria’s biosecurity. Reptiles can carry and spread salmonella and introduce new animal diseases like ranavirus. Unknown exotic diseases have the potential to decimate Australian native animal populations, infect household pets and even humans.

Please do not support the illegal trade of exotic pest animals. In doing so, you may be threatening the survival of the species in their native range overseas.

If you have any information about the illegal trade of exotic species like the Chaco Tortoises, please call Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800 333 000 to make an anonymous report.