Decline in Asian Turtle Population Sample Clauses

Decline in Asian Turtle Population. With an already high natural mortality rate of hatchlings, and a maturity rate that can take decades, the survival of each individual turtle is important to the balance of the ecosystem. With the recent boom in Asian turtle trade during past decade discussed in Chapter One, the rate at which turtles are being collected is unsustainable.99 This section will examine evidence of Asian turtle decline and identify how these numbers are being addressed by Asian governments participating in CITES. Figure 2.2, taken from the Turtle Conservation Fund global action plan published in 2007, reveals the threat level turtles species are facing worldwide, with a concentration below focused solely on Asian turtles. The level of endangerment is assigned based on the 2000 IUCN Red List, consisting of 293 species worldwide and 88 species of Asian tortoises and freshwater turtles. Of the worldwide turtle population, fifty-one percent are either vulnerable or already extinct in the wild. In Asia, sixty-six percent of Asian turtles are either are vulnerable or already extinct. Asian turtles are facing the highest level threat of threat, but that is not all that is shockingly revealed in Figure 2.3.