This is definitely not a story that I would post on the Great News Blog.

Though we continue to argue about how to protect turtles, over whether or not they need protection at all, and how turtle conservation can impact the fishing industry, the fact remains that turtle species continue dwindle down even as we bicker back and forth.

Freshwater turtles in particular are disappearing at disturbing rates. According to Conservation International, over one-third of the world’s freshwater turtle species are now facing extinction. 280 of the species exist around the world, but with threats like this present, we’ll be lucky for our grandchildren to ever see a turtle in the wild.

We are wholly to blame, which is not surprising. According to the study conducted by Conservation International, the two biggest causes of these losses are the demand for turtles as pets as well as the demand for them as a food source—both by humans. The loss of their habitats through our actions is a third reason listed for their decimating numbers.  

Use of turtles in “exotic medicines” is also a huge contributor to these species losses. Some eastern medical philosophies make use of the turtle for various remedies, causing a greater demand for the reptile—and a greater loss.

The thing is, when we deplete the turtle population, we don’t realize the impact it has. If we keep rabbits as pets, for example, we know that they will continue to produce more and more bunnies, which doesn’t present much of a threat. Turtles, however, take a long time to mature—up to 15 years, a startlingly similar state to humans—and do not reproduce nearly as quickly. In fact, when turtles do produce hatchlings, the babies are so small and threatened by predators—from fish to birds to anything that’s bigger than they are—what we often see is that few to none survive.

Some scientists say that the solution is an easy one for those who are willing to do it. Simple turtle farming would create numbers of turtles that could be harvested for these food and medical sources without wreaking havoc on the numbers of wild turtles that already exist. Of course, simply refraining from eating or catching turtles—which no one actually needs to do in the first place to survive—could definitely help as well. It’s times like this when we all might want to think about making our own “Leave Britney alone!” videos, only about turtles instead.