On July 14, at least 30 endangered sea turtles were found maltreated on a remote Japanese island.
Several of the turtles had been stabbed in the neck, according to the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi.
Some of the turtles had also been stabbed in the legs.
It was the locals on the island of Kumejima who discovered the turtles when it was low tide.
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– Stuck them to get rid of them
A fisherman is said to have told the Japanese newspaper that he had to stab the turtles to remove them from a fishing net.
– Many of them were wrapped in fishing nets. I loosened some of them and released them into the sea, but I could not release the heavy ones, so I stabbed them to get rid of them, the fisherman is said to have said.
Local media reports that the police are investigating the case.
According to BBC marine biologists and staff at the island’s sea turtle museum rushed down to the beach when the grotesque find first became known, but most of the turtles must have already been dead.
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Red list
The turtles found on the beach are said to have been of the species green sea turtles.
Green sea turtles have been identified as an endangered species and are on the International Union for the Conversation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list.
According to Large Norwegian encyclopedia The IUCN Red List is the most complete source of knowledge about the risk of extinction of species. It provides an overview of endangered species in the world and assesses the species’ danger of extinction.
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