Vast turtle slaughter in Bangladesh

Makeshift turtle market at Tanti Bazaar, Dhaka. Photo Credit: Bonnie Rashid/CARINAM

Unsustainable turtle slaughter in Bangladesh

November 2011. Wildlife Extra recently became aware of the Kali Puja festival in Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of turtles are slaughtered annually. To find out more about this festival, we asked Dr S. M. A. Rashid, chief executive of CARINAM (Centre for advanced research in natural resources & management), a few questions. Dr Rashid very kindly gave the following replies. 

I have recently become aware of the Kali Puja Festival - I believe it is an annual event? Is this a long standing event, and how many turtles do they slaughter every year?
The Kali Puja is an annual festival observed by Hindus, mostly living in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh. The Puja is a prayer on a holy occasion (like Christmas or Eid). The Hindu religion is not linked to eating turtles but somehow it has become a tradition among Hindus and almost every Hindu wants to eat turtles on this particular day as it is considered an auspicious or ‘holy' day, in much the same way that turkeys are eaten on Christmas. Several hundred thousand turtles are slaughtered every year all during Kali Puja.

Where do all the turtles come from, and are there any regulations over what species and numbers that may be killed?
All the turtles are captured from the wild. Collection of turtles is carried out all over Bangladesh and the traders have a very strong multi-tier network and mobile phones have made their work much more ‘productive'. The Bangladesh Wildlife Preservation Act 1974 prohibits capturing killing of some species listed in its Schedules. However the Act has been revised as The Bangladesh Wildlife Act 2011 and is now awaiting approval of the parliament. The revised act protects all wildlife.

There is no quota as to how many turtles may be captured/killed. No capture or killing is permitted under the Act/law but due to weak implementation and enforcement such illegal trade continues.

Bloody shells of freshly killed turtles. Photo Credit: Bonnie Rashid/CARINAM

Turtles are eaten round the year however the numbers and volume of turtle trade increase many fold during the Kali puja. Traders stock turtles expecting high price for this particular festival; this year the prices ranged from $5 - $300 per kilogram depending on the species.

Is this sustainable?
No, this is not sustainable. All the turtles are captured from the wild. Moreover the traders do not care about the status of the species in the wild; in fact the rarer the turtle, the more money that can be earned by the traders. Further more, pregnant females, under-sized juveniles and adult males are all slaughtered irrespective of the breeding season or status of the species. Such reckless killing will have a devastating effect on the wild population. The freshwater turtles are also threatened by the changing land use patterns where many of the wetlands are being converted to agricultural land or for housing. These poor turtles are surviving in a very precarious state.

• Endangered species being eaten

  Dr Rashid has surveyed the species being eaten - Some of these figures are telling in themsleves. In his 1989 survey he found 17 species being regularly traded and now he finds only four species traded regularly and occasionally another 7 or 8 species.

  • Last year during Kali Puja we found Batagur baska (Northern River Terrapin- critically endangered)
  • Geoclemys hamiltonii (Spotted Pond Turtle)
  • Nilssonia nigricans (Bostami Turtle)  
  • This year we found Hardella thurjii (Crowned Turtle)
  • Geoclemys hamiltonii (Spotted Pond Turtle)
  • Pangshura tentoria (Brown Roofed Turtle)
  1) The Hindu priests can play a major role by preaching the followers (Hindus believe turtles to be an incarnation of their god); 
• 2) Massive and intensive awareness programs must be undertaken; 
• 3) Implementation and enforcement of the law should be strengthened as the turtle traders are known and they can be located; 
• 4) The rich businessmen and middlemen who support this business by giving advances to collect turtles should be brought to law; 
• 5) Captive/commercial farms involving selected species may be set up for turtle breeding;
• 6) The government may give licenses to some traders to collect specified numbers/species annually by quota system (this is hard to implement or monitor).