Vast turtle slaughter in Bangladesh

Unsustainable turtle slaughter in BangladeshNovember 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.

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