# 100,000 turtles sacrificed in ritual slaughter to celebrate Hindu festival



## Colin (Oct 29, 2011)

disgraceful stuff.. 

100,000 turtles sacrificed in ritual slaughter to celebrate Hindu festival | Mail Online


*100,000 turtles sacrificed in ritual slaughter to celebrate Hindu festival
*By Daily Mail Reporter 
Last updated at 4:47 PM on 27th October 2011

A Hindu festival that celebrates light has been shrouded in darkness following the sacrificial slaughter of up to 100,000 turtles. 

Shown in these horrifying images, critically endangered species including the northern river terrapin and the black soft-shell turtle, are sacrificed in the name of religion. 

The ancient ritual takes place during the celebration of Kali Puja, which started in Bengal yesterday. Held once a year, and corresponding with the festival Diwali, sacrifices are made to Kali, the Hindu goddess of power. During Kali Puja, market streets are teeming with devotees who purchase and consume thousands of turtles. 

One of the species found on Dhaka's markets is the northern river terrapin. Around 25 individuals are known to exist, making it one of the rarest animals on earth. On paper it is offered the same level of protection as a tiger. 

Another targeted species is the black soft-shell, which has only recently been officially been found in the wild and it has a single population in a pond in the region of Chittagong.

Even though many of the turtles are critically endangered and feature on Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, the slaughter is often overlooked by authorities. 
The act has enraged conservation groups in India and abroad

"Since the killing of turtles was made illegal, this mass slaughter has been carried out in the name of 'religion'," said Dr Rashid of Centre for Advanced Research in Natural Resources & Management (CARINAM) in Bangladesh.

'It's because of this that the authorities turn a blind eye - they are too scared of causing social unrest." 

At Dhaka's Tanti Market, the turtles are butchered and their meat, limbs and organs are then sold to customers. The meat sells for between $10 - $60 per kilo (£6-£37), depending on the species. 

Followers believe that by eating the turtle, they will take on its strength and longevity. During festival, the majority of Bangladesh's Hindu population consume turtle meat. 

Businessman Sunil Kumar Bala commented: "We have been eating turtles during Kali Puja for a long time. It is a tradition that we will maintain even if the government tries to stop us." The turtle trade offers a source of income to up to 30,000 people. Hari, the longest serving trader of turtles in Dhaka's markets, estimates he has been responsible for killing around 20,000 tons of turtles. "If this this trade stops, many people's livelihoods will suffer," he said. "I have been doing this for the last 40 years, if you stop this now, what will I do?"

Turtle conservationists, however, are up in arms. "The Kali Puja turtle market is a wildlife travesty of the worst kind," said Rick Hudson of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) in Fort Worth, US. "The brutality with which turtles are slaughtered is gruesome, shocking and an abomination of nature."

Once the market concludes, the shells are cleaned, scraped of meat and then dried. The dried shell has multiple uses. It is processed and fed to fish and chicken. The pharmaceutical industry uses it to make the containers of capsules for antibiotics and other drugs.

However, the majority of dried shell is shipped to south east Asia where it is used in traditional medicine. It is believed that consuming turtle shell increases virility.
As night fell in Dhaka yesterday, the ceremonies began. During sacrifices to Kali, goats were beheaded and turtles impaled upside down on poles. As they tried to escape, their head and legs were chopped off.

Turtles have been on earth for over 220 million years, even surviving K-T boundary that wiped out the dinosaurs. Now they are amongst the world's most endangered animals; around half of their 300+ species are threatened with extinction. "Turtles are being collected, traded, and eaten or otherwise used, in overwhelming numbers.
"They are used for food, pets, traditional medicine-eggs, juveniles, adults, body parts-all are exploited indiscriminately, with little regard for sustainability. 

On top of the targeted onslaught, their habitats are being increasingly fragmented, destroyed, developed, and polluted," from "Turtles in Trouble" by the Turtle Conservation Coalition.

Over recent years Bangladesh has become a hot spot for the illegal turtle smuggling trade. Animals are smuggled in from neighbouring nations and then re-exported due to Bangladesh's porous border security. 

The current outlook for many of the species is grim. "This situation is completely unsustainable. Unless the trade for turtles stops and a slaughter in the name of religion is regulated, a number of species will be lost forever," said Dr. Rashid


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## dottyback (Oct 29, 2011)

disgusting!


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## simonandtoni (Oct 29, 2011)

makes you sick.


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## Cockney_Red (Oct 29, 2011)

We are so special, are we not


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## FAY (Oct 29, 2011)

It is believed that consuming turtle shell increases virility.

Don't they BREED enough??? This is why the world is on a down hill slide....
I hate this sort of rubbish and their excuse to do it and think it is OK.


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## Trench (Oct 29, 2011)

I almost cryed when reading that :cry::cry::cry: 
its so sad to see the authorities turn a blind eye just because they are too scared of causing social unrest,
come on and start doing your jobs you useless prigs :evil:


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## SteveNT (Oct 29, 2011)

cockney_red said:


> we are so special, are we not



not


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## zulu (Oct 29, 2011)

Theyve got plenty of cows running around and they dont eat them because of religion and they eat turtles,they are not the sharpest tools in the shed.


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## kat2005dodi (Oct 29, 2011)

Humanity is capable of such horrendous acts and in each cultures mind they justify it. It saddens me! Lacking thought and compassion for life! Will we ever learn!!!


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## D3pro (Oct 29, 2011)

Hahaha, lets all pick on the Christians. The problem with Christians is their leaders, who are more politicians then religious people.
Religion in the dark ages was much like the government today, leading crusades to kill randoms for some stupid reason.

The hindus, are weird... their government should focus on re-educating the lower classes found in villages to stop this superstition.


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## dihsmaj (Oct 29, 2011)

I didn't know Diwali included the sacrifice of turtles...

As for the cow thing --
Cows are sacred, believed to have been shepherded by Krishna.


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## dihsmaj (Oct 29, 2011)

D3pro said:


> their government should focus on re-educating the lower classes found in villages to stop this superstition.


I agree completely


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## D3pro (Oct 29, 2011)

Every country does something similar. EG: The Tasmanian devil.

When people are ignorant then that is the end result. Welcome to humanity, your in it.


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## kawasakirider (Oct 29, 2011)

Yep, when the settlers invaded Australia they did make huge mistakes, inexcusable mistakes. But they never lined them all up to slaughter them for the hell of it at a festival.

That's beside the point because you're right, they did kill off the tiger and ituer species. Society has come a long way though, so there's no excuse [deleted] to continue with these barbaric practices. There's no excuse anymore.


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## D3pro (Oct 29, 2011)

kawasakirider said:


> Yep, when the settlers invaded Australia they did make huge mistakes, inexcusable mistakes. But they never lined them all up to slaughter them for the hell of it at a festival.
> 
> That's beside the point because you're right, they did kill off the tiger and ituer species. Society has come a long way though, so there's no excuse [deleted] to continue with these barbaric practices. There's no excuse anymore.



Again, the solution is education. Hating a culture doesn't help anyone.


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## CHEWEDCRICKET (Oct 29, 2011)

I know some people who celebrate Diwali. I'm going to ask them about this...:evil:


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## saximus (Oct 29, 2011)

Hanlon's Razor - Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
I'm not even gonna bother with the religion idea here but as D3 says, education is the answer here. I don't think they can be personally blamed as individuals for not knowing any better.


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## Ricochet (Oct 29, 2011)

I can't quite buy the idea that in todays world that these people don't know any better. There's a million save the wales, save the dolphins, save the turtles, save the rhinos and basically save the planet organisations out there doing therir best at spreading the word. This is on top of the authorities who have been educated but are turning a blind eye :x.

I don't care what others believe in as long - as it's not intentionally harming animals or human for ridiculous reasons.


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## saximus (Oct 29, 2011)

In the Western world those organisations are quite proliferate Ricochet but a person in a third world country who has never seen a television has probably never even heard of a campaign to save the dolphins, whales or turtles


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## Ricochet (Oct 29, 2011)

Maybe the Save the............. peoples need to get their hands dirty and head over for a first hand look and real life experience. I still think they would be there doing their deed of spreading the word. 

Even in the third world countries (with their religions) they still have those killer automobiles (complete with horns):lol::lol:.

I've got to be honest - I can't shout out my innocence - I'm a "Kill it and Grill it" type of guy.


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## mysnakesau (Oct 29, 2011)

They call that religion? So God blessed them to murder his creatures? That's so wrong.


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## xxMelissaxx (Oct 29, 2011)

saximus said:


> Hanlon's Razor - Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
> I'm not even gonna bother with the religion idea here but as D3 says, education is the answer here. I don't think they can be personally blamed as individuals for not knowing any better.



Absolutely, 100% agree.

It is very easy for us to pass judgement from our positions. I have spent some time in India, it is a different world over there.

Edited to add: just for the record, I am not condoning this behaviour in any way, and I find it abhorrent. It's just not so simple to correct..


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