Abstrakt
European species of tortoises of the genus Testudo (T. hermanni, T. graeca, T. marginata) are very popular pets. Therefore, they have also become the object of illegal trade, where even current statistics of seized live specimens list hundreds of individuals who are illegally trafficked each year.
Legal trade is allowed in the EU with proven captive-bred specimens. Declaring smuggled turtles as bred in captivity is one of the most often used misdeclarations that proves poorly to the accused.
One of the promising method to distinguish wild caught from captive bred specimen is stable isotope analysis.