World Turtle Day is being celebrated this week – while they are still being butchered in “medieval” wet markets.
This year’s event will be highlighting the turtles’ treatment in China, where market traders routinely cut off their shells while they are still alive.
A campaign spokesman said: “Turtles at live food markets are routinely stacked four and five deep, without food or water and butchered while fully conscious.
“These markets are not only in China but exist throughout North America and many other countries.”
One unconfirmed theory is that Covid-19 originated from illegally traded bat or pangolin meat at a live animal market in Wuhan.
It led to the Chinese government banning the breeding, trading and selling of wild animals in February.
It is due to publish a full list of what it considers “wild” this month.
Turtles were thought to be on the early list, as well as frogs and scorpions. But all of these animals were still being openly sold in markets when they reopened in April.
Paul McCartney last week joined calls for wet markets to be banned.
The former Beatle said the markets – which are so-called because their bloody floors have to be regularly hosed down – encouraged “quite medieval practices”.
He added: “They need to clean up their act. This may lead to change. If this doesn’t, I don’t know what will.”
The 20th World Turtle Day, which takes place on Saturday, also aims to highlight the many dangers turtles are facing at sea.
Plastic pollution is a major threat as turtles often mistake it for food. When eaten, it can lead to poisoning and fatal stomach blockages.
Almost three-quarters of the turtles alive today – including seven species of sea turtles and 11 species of land turtles – are endangered.
Some of the earliest known turtles lived 215 million years ago, making them older than lizards and snakes.
