TORTOISES with popular cartoon images, such as Peppa Pig, Sponge Bob and Doraemon, printed on their shells have been sold recently at many stalls across the city, attracting a lot of attention from young students, according to a report published Saturday in the Shenzhen Evening News.

The reporter with the News also found this type of tortoise for sale online.

Experts said that tortoises with colored shells are more vulnerable to developing ulcers, so they suggested that residents refrain from buying them.

The reporter was told by one seller at the Futian agricultural products wholesale market in Meilin Subdistrict that the color on the tortoises’ shells would not fade. “They only need to get fresh water from time to time, and to be fed,” said the seller.

The seller also told the reporter that the tortoises are Brazilian Sliders and that their shells had already been painted when they were sourced from their suppliers.

Although the prices for these tortoises are higher than normal tortoises, they have been selling well both in the market and online. Only 10 minutes after the reporter arrived at the market, four residents had bought painted tortoises, while some online stores sell over 8,000 of these tortoises in a month.

However, many residents have told the News that they thought printing images on the tortoises’ shells was harmful for both tortoises and kids.

“Residents are not advised to free the animals randomly to reduce the negative impacts they might have on environment, as it has been listed as a top-100 dangerous exotic species,” said Gu Dang’en, assistant researcher with the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute.

Additionally, a lawyer in Longgang District said that while a penalty for this behavior has yet to be specified in the law, postal laws specify that it is illegal to send living animals through a delivery service. (Wang Jingli)