Banning Turtle Hunting, Cuba is fast forward in Environmental Policies

As Cuba was exporting turtle shells, it had a quota of 500 hawksbill (hawk-like beak, hence the name) turtles a year. But now Cuban Government responded to the call of conservationists and banned the hunt, reports Reuters and blogged in TreeHugger.

Illegal trade is the main reason threatening the extinction of these marine turtles. Other reasons include:

• accidental death in fishing nets,
• loss of habitat,
• environmental pollution,
• climate change.

Tortoise shells are used to make combs and other decorative items. The thin tortoise shell is highly colored with elaborate patterns. It’s scientific name is ‘Eretmochelys imbricata’.

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has put the status of hawksbill turtles as ‘Critically Endangered’.

The hawkbill turtles live on sea sponges in shallow lagoons and coral reefs. According to NOAA Fisheries, in the Carribean, an adult hawksbill eats an average of 544 kg of sponges a year. Not baaaaaad 🙂 .

Long live the Hawksbills!!!