Have you ever seen a type of animal or plant and realized that they didn’t belong there? You knew it looked rare and unique, but it didn’t belong in the habitat. What you saw are known as invasive species. An invasive species is a living creature that has negative effects on our economy, environment, or health, but is brought here by human assistance or by self-migration. They can also be called “introduced species, aliens, exotic, nonindigenous, and nonnative” according to Daniel Simberloff (3). As a contrast, he defined a native species along the lines of “a species is native to a region if it evolved there or if it evolved elsewhere, but arrived in the region of its own, usually thousands if not millions of years ago and without human assistance” …show more content…
Illegal vendors will sell them as a baby, but don’t tell the buyers that the reptiles can carry salmonella bacteria. Salmonella is a rod-shaped bacterium that affects the intestines in humans and animals (Mayo Clinic, par 1). Thus creating a “federal law has prohibited the sale of any turtle under four inches since 1975” (Luciano-Adams par 4). The red-eared sliders as pets for children are not ideal for the fact that children have weak immune systems, it was best not to be exposed to the reptile. These cold-blooded reptiles are very aggressive towards other species, like the western pond turtles, who are native to California. In Distribution and Abundance of Invasive Red- Eared Sliders (Trachemys scripta elegans) in California’s Sacramento River Basin and Possible Impacts on Native Western Pond Turtles (Emys marmorata), the authors stated that they were concerned about the fact that the red-eared sliders could be disease spreaders and were competitors with native species and some disease that were found in the pond turtle although it hasn’t happened yet. California has recently banned (in 2010) the eating of imported turtles in hopes that nobody contracts a disease from the turtles. The red-eared sliders compete with the western pond turtles for food and habitat, which makes the natives leave and find a new a home. According to Information Center for the Environment (ICE), they can also spread “parasites and diseases to which native turtles are not immune” which will cause the natives to go extinct more quickly (3). Invading species negatively impact many native species’ habitats and ecosystems. They can overthrow the environment by scaring the natives off, eating species, spreading disease, or preventing the natives from reproducing. For example, the western pond turtles are native to California, but red-eared sliders are taking over their habitat. Many people who bought red-eared sliders when they were one inch wide