Endangered Sea Turtles Eaten
3 Dead, 32 Hospitalized with Food Poisoning Symptoms
Illegal Capture but Still Consumed in Some Areas
Three people died after an indigenous tribe in the Philippines ate endangered sea turtles and showed symptoms of food poisoning. Dozens of residents experiencing abdominal pain and vomiting were hospitalized.
On the 3rd (local time), local media including the Inquirer and the British BBC reported that on the 30th of last month (local time), residents of a fishing village on the coast of Maguindanao del Norte province on Mindanao Island in southern Philippines caught and cooked sea turtles, resulting in three deaths and at least 32 people receiving hospital treatment.
Residents belonging to the indigenous Teduray tribe reportedly prepared the sea turtles caught by a fisherman as the famous Filipino dish "Adobo," seasoning it with vinegar and soy sauce and cooking it with vegetables before sharing it. Afterwards, residents began to show symptoms such as abdominal pain and vomiting and were eventually taken to a nearby hospital. The three people who died were immediately buried according to local tradition. Authorities are investigating the cause of the incident by collecting remaining parts of the sea turtles, such as the shells, from the residents.
Sea turtles are designated as endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and many countries prohibit catching or killing sea turtles. The Philippines also bans hunting or consuming sea turtles under environmental protection laws, but it is known that in some regions, sea turtles are still consumed as a traditional delicacy. However, sea turtles can cause food poisoning known as "chelonitoxism," and deaths from this poisoning occur periodically.
In March, a similar incident occurred on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar autonomous region of Tanzania, Africa, where nine residents died and 78 were hospitalized after eating sea turtle meat.
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