- cross-posted to:
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- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Summary
Three people died and 32 were hospitalized in the Philippines after eating a stew made from an endangered sea turtle in Maguindanao del Norte.
Symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal spasms, likely caused by toxins from contaminated algae consumed by the turtle.
The stew was a traditional dish, but hunting or consuming sea turtles is illegal under Philippine law.
Similar poisoning cases have occurred, with sea turtles traditionally hunted for their flesh and eggs in some communities.
I’m not going to say good, but I also don’t pity them. One of the rare cases where humans kill an endangered animal and the animal gets some revenge.
I’ll say it then. Good.
This was an indigenous community that believes that eating these turtles grants long life and health. They don’t recognize the endangered status at all, and aren’t equipped to detect the threat of toxic algae contamination. In many cases, the victims of these incidents are children, who are fed turtle meat for its proported benefits.
Think carefully about publicly celebrating these people’s deaths.
I remember the last time I read a similar story, it was mainly toddlers that died. So… Mixed bag.