Without guilt or sin, animals stand helpless against the unjust hunting they are subjected to, and pay their lives for a set of beliefs and myths woven around their blood and meat. Everyday, the environment loses its biological diversity and faces the risk of extinction of rare animals due to “negative popular heritage”.
Popular heritage is an important part of people’s culture, as it is the legacy of ancestors that is passed down from one generation to another. However, it needs to be developed and revised from some harmful beliefs, which have burdened humans with superstitions, and are now threatening the lives of many living creatures on planet Earth because of these ideas related to the use of animals for medicinal purposes popular in Arab society, despite the lack of any medical evidence to prove the validity of these claims that have been inherited for hundreds of years.
Wild turtles
A peaceful, endangered species. More than one species of wild turtle lives in the Arab world, and at the forefront is the Egyptian tortoise, which is native to Egypt and Libya. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists it on the Red List of threatened species in the category of organisms most at risk.
Sea turtles
The Mediterranean is famous for three species of sea turtles: The loggerhead turtle, which is the most common but is less vulnerable to hunting, the green turtle, which is considered one of the largest sea turtles but is in danger of extinction, and finally the leather-back turtle, which is one of the most migratory types of turtles in the world.
While five species of turtles inhabit the Red Sea, they are among the oldest, most widespread and diverse reptiles. Marine turtles are also widespread in the Arabian Peninsula, along the coasts of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Oman.
Crimes against life
For more than 100 million years, sea turtles have covered vast distances across the world's oceans, playing a vital role in the balance of marine habitats. But, over the past 200 years, human activities have tipped the scales until almost all seven sea turtle species are classified as endangered, with three species in imminent danger.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the first threat facing the sustainability of sea turtles is their human consumption, through eating their meat and eggs as a source of food, in addition to killing them and trading in their organs as a result of local cultures and customs or treatment with alternative medicine.
Turtles face many natural challenges in their lives, but they face the specter of death daily due to popular heritage. According to local Egyptian beliefs, these peaceful creatures turn into an antidote to life, as turtles are sacrificed in order to eat their meat to treat diseases or drink their blood to increase sexual ability and treat infertility in men or increase fertility in women.
In some Gulf countries, local residents hunt turtles and collect their eggs on the grounds that they are a rich source of food or with the aim of increasing men’s energy, while in Yemen this creature turns into a delicious dish at summer parties as part of the local culture and for the purpose of curing diseases.
In fact, there is no scientific study that supports these allegations, and on the contrary, most research rejects this behavior, not only because of the extinction of turtles, but also because of its danger to human health, because consuming sea turtle products (such as meat, organs, blood, and eggs) results in many health risks due to the presence of bacteria, parasites, and high levels of heavy metals and organic compounds in sea turtle tissues that exceed international food safety standards.
Consumption of sea turtle products ultimately leads to toxic effects, diarrhea, vomiting, and severe dehydration, and may sometimes lead to hospitalization and death. The damage may not appear immediately, but it accumulates in human tissues over the course of a lifetime as a result of eating turtle eggs, causing renal, skeletal and reproductive health problems and various types of cancer, according to reports published by the World Health Organization and Eco Health Journal.
Sea turtles are perhaps the most vulnerable to human consumption because they are still more present in the Arab region, and they also live on the coasts near local communities, unlike land turtles, which mostly live in arid desert areas far from residential areas. However, this does not prevent us from emphasizing that the latter are also exposed to the danger of hunting, international pet trade, and illegal sale.
Catching sea turtles is due to the belief that they bring good luck to the house, which is what the International Union for Conservation of Nature talked about, considering that it is a tradition that exists in several local cultures around the world. But, they often lose their lives due to their leaving their environment and not providing them with appropriate care.
Nile crocodile
From the endangered turtles to the Nile crocodile, which is considered the second largest reptile in the world. In 2017 it was included in the Red List of species at risk of extinction issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which indicated that one of the reasons for hunting the Nile crocodile is for popular medicinal purposes.
The Nile crocodile is subjected to hunting or random killing, which may make it vulnerable to extinction over time, due to prevailing beliefs in the Nile Basin countries, including Egypt and Sudan, about the medical benefits of its meat, which is said to strengthen the immune system, and its fat, which is used as a treatment for wounds.
Although some countries rely on crocodiles as a source of protein in the human food chain, the American website “Science Daily” published a study on the biological risks of eating reptiles, including crocodiles, which may cause many health problems due to the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, especially salmonella.
The legend of the god “Sobek”!
The Nile crocodile derives its popularity and importance in the Nile Valley civilization from its embodiment of the image of the god “Sobek” in ancient Egyptian civilization. “Sobek” was a symbol of fertility, strength, and protector from dangers. This idea was passed down through the generations and became part of the popular heritage of the region.
This ancient myth may be the reason behind the belief that crocodile penises are sold as a cure for sexual diseases and fertility in men.
Striped hyena
In 2008, the striped hyena joined the list of endangered animals. It is found within the Arab region in several places, including North African countries, some Gulf countries, and the Levant.
The striped hyena gains a bad reputation in Arabic folklore. Its relationship with humans depends on beliefs inherited from ancient civilizations, such as that it is a symbol of treachery and betrayal or a source of sorcery. Its terrifying appearance may have been part of the myths woven around it, but these myths made it a target for hunting and illegal trafficking.
For example, in the Kingdom of Morocco, the trade in hunting hyenas for witchcraft is promoted, and the head and brain are sold at exorbitant prices, while in other countries, its body parts are sold for use in traditional medicine.
Destruction of biodiversity
In the face of the extinction of animals due to human practices and outdated ideas, the threats extend to the entire ecosystem, because the absence of any animal may shake this system and affect biodiversity, which is the pillar of human life and well-being.
Sea turtles play a prominent role in maintaining balanced and healthy ecosystems. They are an essential link in these systems, as they help maintain the health of seagrass beds and coral reefs that benefit species of commercial value, such as shrimp, crabs, and tuna, and transfer nutrients to other organisms. They also feed on other creatures such as jellyfish, and when turtles become extinct, this threatens to increase the danger of jellyfish.
Here, the extent of the disaster threatening biodiversity becomes clear in light of a new study conducted by the University of Arizona, which confirmed that more than 1.1 million sea turtles were killed illegally during the past thirty years.
As for striped hyenas, they represent an essential link in the ecosystem. They feed on animal corpses most of the time, which maintains balance and rids the planet of carrion and the remains of dead organisms. Their exposure to extinction represents a major threat to ecosystems that have continued for thousands of years.
Suggested solutions
The most important means of overcoming the myth is to increase awareness by launching awareness campaigns and guidance advice through government initiatives for animal conservation and civil society, or to seek assistance from international institutions, such as the World Wide Fund for Nature. It provides through its website some steps to combat illegal trade, including developing alternative livelihoods for local people, so that they do not return to wrong practices. It also promotes the value of animals, and trains local guards to monitor wildlife and combat poaching.
The matter requires stopping traditional and electronic markets for selling animals. Despite a number of effective environmental laws, the trade in rare and predatory animals is still popular in traditional markets in Egyptian cities, such as the “Friday market” in the capital, Cairo, and also in coastal cities such as Alexandria and Port Said. Traders and fishermen violate the Egyptian Environmental Protection Law by trading in animals during the weekly fish circles.
There are also electronic markets that provide the sale of animals, such as the “OLX” website, where the prices of turtles vary from 200 Egyptian pounds, which is equivalent to 8 dollars, up to 2,000 pounds, or 70 dollars, and these prices are until 2022, that is, before the recent wave of rise of the dollar against the pound.
Religion plays a role in confronting superstitions. Clearing the popular heritage of negative and harmful beliefs in society requires the intervention of religious institutions for reform and guidance, which has already happened in the case of hunting turtles, where the “Egyptian Fatwa House” issued a fatwa with the aim of prohibiting hunting them, stressing that torturing the animal, causing it pain, and draining its blood are major sins.
The fatwa relied on the criterion of preserving the components of the environment as a legal requirement, because hunting animals may lead to the annihilation of its breed and disruption of the environmental balance, while man was commanded to populate the earth, not to corrupt it and annihilate breeds.
When this standard is applied to all species threatened with extinction, we will find that the fatwa applies to all animals. Finally, the importance of criminalizing trafficking and activating deterrent international laws and agreements, the most important of which is the “CITES” Convention on Environmental Conservation.
