Published: Just now
In 30 years, over 1.1 million sea turtles have been killed – including hundreds of thousands of the critically endangered green sea turtle and the critically endangered loggerhead turtle.
According to a study at Arizona State University in the United States, around 44,000 sea turtles are killed annually, despite the laws introduced to protect them. Researchers also expect the numbers to be on the low side, The Guardian reports.
Sea turtles are hunted for food, for use in traditional medicine, and to be sold as artifacts and jewelry, including in Vietnam, China, and Japan.
– We have to look at the socio-economic and cultural driving forces behind the illegal hunting. As long as there is demand from richer countries, poorer countries will meet the need, says researcher Jesse Senko to The Guardian.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that the trade in illegally hunted plants and animals amounts to the equivalent of just over SEK 200 billion annually.