Hawksbill (scientific name: Eretmochelys imbricata) is a marine animal of the family Reptiles, the family Turtle. Generally, it is about 0.6 meters long, and the larger ones can reach 1.6 meters. There are two pairs of forehead scales on the top of the head, the snout is flattened on the side, and the front of the upper jaw is hooked and curved like an olecranon; 2 pairs of forehead scales; the carapace scutellum is arranged in imbricate; the horny plate on the back is imbricate, the surface is smooth, with brown and Pale yellow pattern. The limbs are flipper-like. Forelimbs with 2 claws. The tail is short and usually not exposed outside the nail. We all know that tortoiseshells are very expensive, so is it illegal to buy and sell tortoiseshells? How many tortoiseshells are there?

Tortoiseshell

1. Is it illegal to buy or sell tortoiseshell?

1. Real event restoration 

Recently, Zhu Moumou, a public student studying abroad, returned to China after returning 165 pieces of tortoiseshell shells in Cuba, and was stopped by Chengdu Customs at the airport. Zhu Moumou did not know that although the tortoiseshell carapace can be traded in Cuba, according to Chinese laws, his behavior has constituted the crime of smuggling precious animal products. In the end, the Chengdu Intermediate Court sentenced Zhu to 2 years in prison, suspended for 2 years.

This makes us wonder, what exactly is a tortoiseshell, and why does it break the law? Let's take a look.

2. The real body of the tortoiseshell

The tortoiseshell (scientific name: Eretmochelys imbricata) is a kind of sea turtle belonging to the sea turtle family and is a national second-class protected animal. It is the only species of hawksbill, also known as hawksbill, hawksbill, hawksbill, Wenjia, hawk-billed turtle, thirteen dace turtle, thirteen scales, thirteen-leafed turtle, Ming hawksbill, millennium turtle, referred to as hawksbill turtle . Eggs are edible; horny plates can be used to make spectacle frames or decorations; nails can be used as medicine. The type habitat of this species is in the waters of the Americas and Asia. The main living areas are shallow lagoons and coral reefs, where the hawksbill's main food - sponges live. Hawksbill's diet also includes invertebrates such as jellyfish, anemones, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish, as well as fish and seaweed. Hawksbill turtles, like other sea turtles, have typical sea turtle characteristics, with a flattened body, protective carapace, and paddle-like flippers for paddling. Generally, the body length of female adult turtles is 0.6-0.8 meters, and the body length of males is similar. The larger ones can reach 1 meter, and the largest ones can even reach 1.7 meters. The average weight can reach 45-80 kilograms. Historically, they have been captured The heaviest tortoiseshell reached 210 kg.

3. Knowing tortoiseshell products

Tortoiseshell (Shell) is an organic gemstone, composition: calcium carbonate; hardness: 2.5; specifically refers to the back of the tortoiseshell A, is amorphous, slightly transparent to translucent, with waxy to greasy luster. During the production process, the ridges of the tortoise shell need to be ground off. Tortoiseshell crafts are used in many cultures. In the famous poem Peacock Flying Southeast in the Han Dynasty, there is a verse that steps with silk shoes and light tortoises on head. Sima Qian's Historical Records: The Biography of Chunshen Jun records: Zhao Pingyuan sent people to Chunshen, and Chunshen put them in the upper house. If Zhao wanted to praise Chu, it was a tortoiseshell hairpin, and the sword room was decorated with pearls and jade. Please order Chunshen Jun's guests. There are more than 3,000 guests of Chunshen Jun, and all the guests are walking on pearls and shoes to see Zhao's envoy. Lord Shen showed off wearing a tortoiseshell hairpin and a sword inlaid with pearls and jade. When he met Chunshen's three thousand guests, all of them wore shoes inlaid with large pearls. This shows that during the Warring States Period in China , Tortoiseshell jewelry is already a very common men's jewelry. In the Tang Dynasty, tortoiseshells were used to make coins - Kaiyuan Tongbao, which was unearthed in the underground Tibetan Palace of the True Body Pagoda of Famen Temple in Xi'an. It is very precious and there are only 13 pieces in the world.

4. Is the sale of hawksbill turtles illegal?

According to the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals, hawksbill turtles belong to the second-level national key protection, precious, endangered wildlife. According to the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, all species of sea turtle shells are listed in Appendix I of CITES. Many people go abroad to travel, do business or study abroad. After purchasing similar products through legal channels, they take it for granted that they are legal in China, but they violate the law. While these items are cheap abroad, they are very expensive at home. It is legal in foreign countries and may not be brought. The key depends on whether our laws allow or not.

In the coastal areas of southern my country, many people keep small tortoiseshells. In some tourist attractions, a more serious phenomenon is the release and sale of tortoiseshells. Fishing will continue, and there will be no killing without buying and selling, so we must resolutely resist this behavior.

Second, the living status of the hawksbill turtle

In the past, most people agreed that sea turtle species such as the hawksbill were not threatened with extinction because of their long lifespan and growth. Slow, long reproductive period, late maturity, and high reproductive rate, and there are many age levels in the tortoiseshell population, the sharp decline in the number of short-term is not easy to be found.

In reality, the hawksbill turtle has a high reproductive rate, but like most sea turtles, the survival rate of hatchlings is quite low. Many adult sea turtles are killed intentionally or unintentionally by humans, and turtle nests are also occupied by humans and animals. Small mammals raid their nests, digging up the eggs and eating them. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the nests of sea turtles, including hawksbill turtles and leatherback turtles, are attacked right after their eggs are laid, while sand crabs, jackals, and even domestic animals also attack their nests.

Hawksbill hawksbill near bago Island Historically, the hawksbill was listed as endangered by the IUCN in 1982. This status was maintained for several subsequent evaluations in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1994, and from 1996 the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species upgraded the hawksbill's conservation status to critically endangered. There was opposition when the hawksbill was listed as endangered, with two petition reports claiming that the hawksbill and three other species have multiple important stable populations worldwide, but the IUCN dismissed them based on an analysis of data submitted by the Sea Turtle Specialist Group (MTSG). these petitions. Figures provided by the Turtle Panel indicate that the Hawksbill turtle population has declined by more than 80% over the past three generations, while the number of mature females that nest each year has declined by 84-87%, with no significant population increase in 1996. And the data, which do not account for juvenile sea turtles drifting for food in the ocean, greatly underestimate population declines. Therefore, based on these data, IUCN assigns hawksbill to CR A1 status, but not CR A2, because IUCN believes that there are insufficient data to suggest that the hawksbill population will decline further by 80% or more in the future.

The hawksbill turtle near Reunion Island, with a serrated edge shield on the back of the body is very obvious. Hawksbill and the entire turtle species are listed on the appendix of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). In I, importing and exporting tortoiseshell products, killing, hunting or harassing tortoiseshells is illegal. Hawksbill turtles are also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

In the past few years, governments have also made increasing efforts to protect the hawksbill, such as the introduction of temporary or permanent laws and regulations and the establishment of sea turtle nature reserves. Hawksbill hawksbill has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1970, and the U.S. government has implemented several recovery programs in place to protect local hawksbill populations. Hawksbill turtles have been included in the national second-level key protected wildlife list in China. Huidong Port Turtle Nature Reserve has been established in Huizhou City, Guangdong Province to protect turtles such as hawksbill turtles, green turtles and other species. On the 8th, it was adopted by the Fourth Session of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress and implemented on March 1, 1989 under the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife.

However, although it is illegal to hunt hawksbill turtles, many people around the world still hunt them. In some regions, tortoiseshell is eaten as a delicacy. For example, as early as the 5th century BC, turtles such as hawksbill were regarded as delicacies by the Chinese. Since 1994, Japan stopped importing tortoiseshell shells from foreign countries, and before that, Japan's trade volume of unprocessed tortoiseshell shells reached about 30,000 kilograms per year. Much of the raw material for the tortoiseshell trade comes from the Caribbean. In 2006, large quantities of processed tortoiseshell were found to be exported regularly from countries in the region such as the Dominican Republic and Colombia. In 2001 and 2005, Cuba submitted a proposal twice at the CITES meeting, intending to export the stock of tortoiseshell and a small number of tortoiseshells, but it was not passed due to a few votes, and was finally forced to withdraw the proposal. At present, there are still people in Hainan Province, China, who are making and selling tortoiseshell products in private regardless of the law, which makes it more difficult to protect the tortoiseshell.