Editing Turtle (section)

== Conservation ==
[[File:Loggerhead ted-noaa.jpg|thumb|left|Many turtles have been killed accidentally in fishing nets.<ref name="Wallace Lewison McDonald McDonald 2010"/> Some trawlers now use nets fitted with [[Turtle excluder device|turtle excluders]].<ref name="Montgomery 2021"/> Seen here, a loggerhead escapes a net so fitted.|alt=Photograph of a marine turtle escaping from a specially-designed fishing net]]

Among vertebrate orders, turtles are second only to [[primates]] in the percentage of threatened species. 360 modern species have existed since 1500 AD. Of these, 51–56% are considered threatened and 60% considered threatened or extinct.<ref name="Rhodin2018">{{cite journal |last1=Rhodin |first1=Anders G. J. |last2=Stanford |first2=Craig B. |last3=van Dijk |first3=Peter Paul |last4=Eisemberg |first4=Carla Camilo |display-authors=etal |year=2018 |title=Global Conservation Status of Turtles and Tortoises (order Testudines) |journal=Chelonian Conservation and Biology |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=135–161 |doi=10.2744/CCB-1348.1 |s2cid=91937716|url=http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/23198/3/Global.pdf }}</ref> Turtles face many threats, including [[habitat destruction]], harvesting for consumption, the pet trade,<ref name="Rhodin 2011">{{Cite book |editor1-last=Rhodin |editor1-first=Anders G. J. |year=2011 |editor2-last=Walde |editor2-first=Andrew D. |editor3-last=Horne |editor3-first=Brian D. |editor4-last=van Dijk |editor4-first=Peter Paul |editor5-last=Blanck |editor5-first=Torsten |editor6-last=Hudson |editor6-first=Rick |title=Turtles in Trouble: The World's 25+ Most Endangered Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles – 2011 |publisher=Turtle Conservation Coalition |url=http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/top-25-2011/ |access-date=March 5, 2011 |archive-date=March 5, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305215104/http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/top-25-2011/ |url-status=live |oclc=711692023 }}</ref>{{sfn|Pryke|2021|pp=160–166}} [[light pollution]],{{sfn|Pryke|2021|p=156}} and [[climate change]].{{sfn|Pryke|2021|p=157}} Asian species have a particularly high extinction risk, primarily due to their long-term unsustainable exploitation for food and medicine,<ref name=Firefly2>{{cite book |last=van Dijk |first=Peter Paul |year=2002 |contribution=The Asian Turtle Crisis |title=The Firefly Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians |editor=Halliday, Tim |editor2=Adler, Kraig |publisher=Firefly Books |pages=134–135 |isbn=978-1-55297-613-5 }}</ref> and about 83% of Asia's non-marine turtle species are considered threatened.<ref name="Rhodin2018"/> As of 2021, turtle extinction is progressing much faster than during the [[Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction]]. At this rate, all turtles could be extinct in a few centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |last=McCallum |first=Malcolm |year=2021 |title=Turtle Biodiversity Losses Suggest Coming Sixth Mass Extinction |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-021-02140-8 |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=1257–1275 |doi=10.1007/s10531-021-02140-8 |bibcode=2021BiCon..30.1257M |issn=0960-3115  |s2cid=233903598 |access-date=March 12, 2021 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724105316/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-021-02140-8 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Turtle [[hatchery|hatcheries]] can be set up when protection against flooding, erosion, predation, or heavy [[poaching]] is required.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Draven |first=James |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/05/are-turtle-hatcheries-unethical |title=Are Turtle Hatcheries Unethical? |magazine=National Geographic |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=10 May 2021 |archive-date=June 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613214349/https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2018/05/are-turtle-hatcheries-unethical |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Sea Turtle Conservation Beach Management and Hatchery Programmes |url=http://www.seaturtle.org/documents/hatchery_manual.pdf |publisher=Centre for Herpetology/ Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, Tamil Nadu |year=2003 |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112030749/http://www.seaturtle.org/documents/hatchery_manual.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chacon |first1=Didiher |last2=Sanchez |first2=Juan |last3=Calvo |first3=Jose Joaquin |last4=Ash |first4=Jenny |title=Manual Para el Manejo y la Conservación de las Tortugas Marinas en Costa Rica; con énfasis en la operación de proyectos en playa y viveros |language=Spanish |url=http://www.latinamericanseaturtles.com/archivos/documentos/Manual_Viveros_Impreso.pdf |trans-title=Manual for the management and conservation of sea turtles in Costa Rica; with emphasis on the operation of beach and nursery projects |year=2007 |publisher=Latin American Sea Turtles and WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Network) |access-date=April 7, 2021 |archive-date=July 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724105248/http://www.latinamericanseaturtles.com/archivos/documentos/Manual_Viveros_Impreso.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Chinese markets have sought to satisfy an increasing demand for turtle meat with farmed turtles. In 2007 it was estimated that over a thousand turtle farms operated in China.<ref name="Fishfarmer">{{Cite web |title=Turtle Farms Threaten Rare Species, Experts Say |publisher=Fish Farmer |date=March 30, 2007 |url=http://www.fishfarmer-magazine.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/993/Turtle_farms_threaten_rare_species,_experts_say.html |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=February 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218191219/http://www.fishfarmer-magazine.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/993/Turtle_farms_threaten_rare_species%2C_experts_say.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> All the same, wild turtles continue to be caught and sent to market in large numbers, resulting in what conservationists have called "the Asian turtle crisis".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cheung |first1=Sze Man |date=November–December 2006 |last2=Dudgeon |first2=David |title=Quantifying the Asian Turtle Crisis: Market Surveys in Southern China, 2000–2003 |journal=Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems |volume=16 |issue=7 |pages=751–770 |doi=10.1002/aqc.803 |bibcode=2006ACMFE..16..751C }}</ref><ref name=Firefly2/> In the words of the biologist George Amato, the hunting of turtles "vacuumed up entire species from areas in Southeast Asia", even as biologists still did not know how many species lived in the region.<ref>{{Cite video |last=Amato |first=George |year=2007 |title=A Conversation at the Museum of Natural History |url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/chancesoftheworld/special_video.php#.UKeS2BJ-qzc |format=video |medium=.flv |publisher=POV25 |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-date=November 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112150908if_/https://www.pbs.org/pov/chancesoftheworld/special_video.php#.UKERH0DLeCg |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2000, all the [[Asian box turtle]]s were placed on the [[CITES]] list of endangered species.<ref name=Firefly2/>

Harvesting wild turtles is legal in some American states,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Elise |title=Report: Refusal to Ban Trapping Threatens Turtles in Nine States, Enables Illegal Trade |url=https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/report-refusal-ban-trapping-threatens-turtles-10-states-enables-illegal-trade-2020-02-20/ |publisher=Center for Biological Diversity |access-date=5 August 2021 |date=February 20, 2020}}</ref> and there has been a growing demand for American turtles in China.<ref name=hylton/><ref name="Pittman"/> The [[Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission]] estimated in 2008 that around 3,000 pounds of softshell turtles were exported weekly via [[Tampa International Airport]].<ref name="Pittman">{{Cite news |last=Pittman |first=Craig |author-link=Craig Pittman (writer) |date=October 9, 2008 |title=China Gobbling Up Florida Turtles |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |url=http://www.theledger.com/article/20081009/NEWS/810090272?p=all&tc=pgall |access-date=August 18, 2016 |archive-date=September 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920180105/http://www.theledger.com/article/20081009/NEWS/810090272?p=all&tc=pgall |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the great majority of turtles exported from the US between 2002 and 2005 were farmed.<ref name="hylton">{{Cite magazine |last=Hylton |first=Hilary |title=Keeping U.S. Turtles Out of China |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=May 8, 2007 |url=http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1618565,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070512064953/http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1618565,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 12, 2007 |access-date=November 1, 2012 }}</ref>

Large numbers of sea turtles are accidentally killed in [[Longline fishing|longlines]], [[gillnetting|gillnets]], and [[trawling]] nets as [[bycatch]]. A 2010 study suggested that over 8 million had been killed between 1990 and 2008; the Eastern Pacific and the Mediterranean were identified as among the areas worst affected.<ref name="Wallace Lewison McDonald McDonald 2010">{{cite journal |last1=Wallace |first1=Bryan P. |last2=Lewison |first2=Rebecca L. |last3=McDonald |first3=Sara L. |last4=McDonald |first4=Richard K. |last5=Kot |first5=Connie Y. |last6=Kelez |first6=Shaleyla |last7=Bjorkland |first7=Rhema K. |last8=Finkbeiner |first8=Elena M. |last9=Helmbrecht |first9=S'rai |last10=Crowder |first10=Larry B. |title=Global Patterns of Marine Turtle Bycatch |journal=Conservation Letters |publisher=Wiley |volume=3 |issue=3 |date=April 5, 2010 |issn=1755-263X |doi=10.1111/j.1755-263x.2010.00105.x |pages=131–142 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010ConL....3..131W }}</ref> Since the 1980s, the United States has required all [[Shrimp trawling|shrimp trawlers]] to fit their nets with [[turtle excluder device]]s that prevent turtles from being entangled in the net and drowning.<ref name="Montgomery 2021">{{cite web |last=Montgomery |first=Madeline |date=April 15, 2021 |title=Environmentalists Fight Against New Law that Could Kill Thousands of Sea Turtles |url=https://cbs12.com/news/local/environmentalists-fight-against-new-law-that-could-kill-thousands-of-sea-turtles |access-date=May 11, 2021 |website=WPEC |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417055217/https://cbs12.com/news/local/environmentalists-fight-against-new-law-that-could-kill-thousands-of-sea-turtles |url-status=live }}</ref>
More locally, other human activities are affecting marine turtles. In Australia, [[Queensland]]'s [[shark culling]] program, which uses [[shark nets]] and [[drum line (shark control)|drum lines]], has killed over 5,000 turtles as bycatch between 1962 and 2015; including 719 loggerhead turtles and 33 hawksbill sea turtles, which are listed as critically endangered.<ref name="QLDcull">{{cite web |last=Thom |first=Mitchell |url=http://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals |publisher=Action for Dolphins |title=Queensland's Shark Control Program Has Snagged 84,000 Animals |date=November 20, 2015 |access-date=December 25, 2018 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224053505/https://www.afd.org.au/news-articles/queenslands-shark-control-program-has-snagged-84000-animals |url-status=live }}</ref>

Native turtle populations can also be threatened by [[Invasive species|invasive ones]]. The central North American red-eared slider turtle has been listed among the "[[100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species|world's worst invasive species]]", pet turtle having been released globally. They appear to compete with native turtle species in eastern and western North America, Europe, and Japan.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=Max R. |display-authors=etal |year=2019 |title=Experimental Removal of Introduced Slider Turtles Offers New Insight into Competition with a Native, Threatened Turtle |journal=PeerJ |volume=7 |page=e7444 |doi=10.7717/peerj.7444 |pmid=31435491 |pmc=6698372 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{sfn|Pryke|2021|p=107}}