Well, I'll let you stare at the results for a few seconds and try to see if you can figure out what made me upset... Did you figure it out? I clicked on 3 results, and ALL OF THEM ARE FOR SELLING TURTLES, and there are plenty more to the sides and in later results! Not to mention that the species didn't quite have to do with what I was looking for.
This is just what one of those turtle-selling websites looks like:
But sadly my wishful-thinking was but an illusion. I think the search results says something--if anything related to turtles were popular, it's their values as merchandises and pets (and maybe food or economical crops...) to people. And that's sad and aggravating to me. I think they have their own intrinsic values that are important regardless of what people do, and they are wild animals that are supposed to be wild and free, in where they ought to be naturally, instead of in people's bathtubs or breading farms. When I got angry all to myself, I wonder, though, am I the only one that would feel this way? Is it just me? What do you think about this?
4 comments:
Blogger D-
I could not agree more with you. I think there are far to few people who this upsets, and draws attention to, but that is all the more reason to advocate for turtles and animals that we care for. I unfortunately came across this issue when I was researching more information about the Asian Brown Tortoise after our trip to the TSA. It is truly sad that their are people in the world that can't appreciate nature for what it is.
Completely agree with you. Even if a person had an aquarium/terrarium that was the size of a house, the ecological role that the turtles contribute to their ecosystems would still be seized. Maybe we can start a new TV show entitled "Turtle Wars" to run parallel to the show "Whale Wars" :). But even then, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference in the world because unfortunately the black markets are so profitable to the sellers. At least you didn't get search results that were selling pre-made Chinese side-necked turtle soup!
Education of all sorts is so important to helping people appreciate the real value of wildlife.
"In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." -Baba Dioum
On a related note, check out this recent news article about an innovative zoo exhibit that highlights the biggest threat to many turtles: http://www.earthtouchnews.com/conservation/human-impact/kitchen-themed-zoo-exhibit-for-a-turtle-thats-being-eaten-to-extinction
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