Millions of U.S. Turtles Consumed in China Annually

Brian Handwerkfor National Geographic News
July 24, 2009
One growing export has tipped the U.S.-China trade balance: live turtles.
Each year millions of U.S. turtles that are hatched in farms or caught in the wild are devoured in China, where the onetime delicacy has become more available to the masses..The Chinese eat turtles—especially softshell and snapper species—and use the animals' parts in traditional medicines that are said to boost everything from the immune system to sexual prowess.
But conservationists worry that this high demand will cause some U.S. freshwater turtle species to be eaten to extinction... ( http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090724-turtles-china.html)

That's the abstract of NG News on Environment.. No wonder turtles around the world are becoming lesser and lesser. Especially if you see the local sanctuary of turtles in Terengganu. Very few turtles landed on the coast of Terengganu these days. Those days when I studied in Terengganu I managed to see one giant turtle landed at the shore of Rantau Abang, Dungun...somewhere in August I supposed..What a memorable scene to see it laid eggs .. As a 13 yrs old lass, you felt nothing only enjoying yourself with new experience..seeing a giant green turtle and running along the seashore with friends, singing Alleycat's song "Hingga Akhir Nanti".. Oh how I wish can go back to that moment..

As an adult you're told the turtle is good for medicinal purposes...boost your immune system and sexual prowess..so rhetoric . Isn' there any other food that you can eat to satify your insatiable appetite rather than all so called "exotic food"- snake, crocodile, even prosbosis (monkeys).. and so many other extinct animals in the world.. this shows people are becoming more barbaric than animals now a days.. even human flesh is also considered yummy by some criminals..wallahualam