| The Trionyx sinensis turtle is called the "relict" because it is the witness of an era, when a different climate reigned on Earth. Prior to the onset of the Tertiary period, Trionyx sinensis was extensively found in the European part of Russia.
In summers, the reptile preys on frogs and fishes and sleeps peacefully at the waterbed during winters. The slightest contamination of the rivers may make the turtle never wake up.
According to modern taxonomists, there were about 300 species of turtles and half of them are on the verge of extinction. Some rare species were found not somewhere in the jungle but in Chinese markets! In southern China, the cult meal includes the following rules – you can eat anything that moves, the food must be fresh; if you can not eat something, then you simply do not know how to cook it.
The turtle can be caught in a net, which is not at all intended for it. Chances are that, in this case, its death could go in vain – it is not even eaten.
The Chinese have exhausted their stock of turtles and are now importing from other countries. This industry is well supported by Russian tourists, gourmets - they gladly order turtle soup without thinking that, the reptile was frolicking in the wild for five to ten years, not in the restaurant’s farm.
I met one such traveler in China - no matter where he went, first of all, he wanted to taste the local cuisine. Kangaroos, crocodiles, cobras, bears, deer, ostriches - it's just a small list of what he tried.
In China, every second restaurant has an aquarium with live frogs, toads, snakes and of course, turtles. "I want this!" - said the tourist pointing at a skinny turtle of 50 cm in diameter. Soon, he was served a pot, with a full reptile floating in murky broth. He said "You could have served it chopped into pieces!" But he drank the soup with pleasure.
Someone told me that the turtle was thrown into the boiling water alive ... After all, in China, it has long been considered perfectly normal to scoop out the brains of screeching monkeys and remove the skin of coiling snakes.
Turtles do not know how to scream but it does not mean that they are stupid and even deaf, as Darwin thought. They can hear, especially low sounds and turtles have good eyesight and can smell. Those, who are familiar with the screaming frog in death agony, will never ever forget those screams. But, the turtle keeps mum and many feel, as if you can play with it, as much as they like.
Does the brutal extermination of turtles by the Chinese indicate that the Chinese are sadists? No way! It is just about ignorance, rashness and the unwillingness to look into the future. The farmer does not care if he has eaten the last turtle of a rare species - all this is simply beyond his understanding.
Note, that China, for whom I have enormous sympathy, in recent years, is showing more and more attention towards the conservation of the environment and educational activities. But, Russia in this respect, by contrast, is degrading. Here is a recent case - in Moscow, the long-awaited opening of the “House of butterflies” took place in the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. Previously, such unusual exhibitions could be witnessed only in major European capitals like London and Stockholm.
On the first day, more than half of the live display was destroyed! Children seized the butterflies by their wings. Parents just did not find the time and desire to explain to the younger barbarian generation, that any creature, right from butterfly to turtle has as much right to exist as the human beings have.
In ancient myths, the turtle was given very important role in the structure of the universe. Modern children's author Philip Pullman reminds us of this.
Despite the desire to eat everything, from ancient times, Chinese and other people had a great reverence for turtles. Lot of legends and fairy tales are available on this symbol of longevity, wisdom and the steady movement forward. I saw a huge stone tortoise in the tombs of the Ming Dynasty, whose nose was especially polished - the Chinese believe that touching the symbol of longevity brings good luck.
The most popular story about the shell-clad reptile is the story of the hare and the tortoise. Thus, in one old tale, the clever hare, made the water in a royal pool turbid, and no one could catch the rascal. Only the wise turtle had to cope with the elusive hare - it applied tar on its back, to which the hare sticks.
In another well-known fable on the tortoise is where the he defeated the hare in a running competition with its perpetual teasing slowness. While the turtle slowly but surely moved towards the goal, the hare was distracted by juicy carrots in the garden and talked with its friends. In the end, the tortoise came first reminding us all that the more hasty affairs, the worse the result and low performance speed.
However, not all descendants of ancient reptiles are too slow. In the Fiji Islands, sea turtles are considered as a symbol of speed and good navigational skills and not in vain - for example, the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) with a weight of 600 kg and 2.1 m length can easily swim at 35 km/hr.
Today on World Turtle Day let us remember these amazing reptiles – did you hurt any of them? No matter how beautiful the fairy-tale characters such as tortilla or Tortoise, on the back of which rests our Earth, it is much more interesting to see and touch our turtles. And while we're at least caring very little about conservation, we will have the opportunity. |
This upcoming Saturday, May 23, is World Turtle Day. Established by American Tortoise Rescue in 2000, World Turtle Day is aimed at bringing world's attention to turtles, and helping them survive and thrive. American Tortoise Rescue encourages people to dress up as turtles on World Turtle Day and to save turtles caught on highways.
