Are sea turtles protected animals? A detailed explanation of sea turtle protection levels

Sea turtles belong to the order Testudines and are a type of turtle that lives in the ocean throughout their lives; they leave the water and come ashore only during the breeding season to lay eggs on land and hatch their young. So,are sea turtles protected animals?

1. Are sea turtles protected animals?

Sea turtles are protected animals, and are Class II nationally protected animals. They are widely distributed in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, and in China they are found in coastal waters from Shandong in the north to the Beibu Gulf in the south. Their body length can reach more than 1 m, and their lifespan is up to about 150 years. They mainly feed on fish, cephalopods, crustaceans and seaweed.

2. What kinds of sea turtles are there?

The family Cheloniidae has 5 genera and 6 species, including the genus Caretta, the genus Chelonia, the genus Eretmochelys, the genus Lepidochelys and the genus Natator. Among them, the genus Caretta has only 1 species, namely the loggerhead sea turtle (also called the loggerhead); the genus Chelonia has 1 species, namely the green sea turtle; the genus Eretmochelys has only 1 species, namely the hawksbill sea turtle; the genus Lepidochelys has 2 species, namely Kemp's ridley sea turtle and the olive ridley sea turtle; the genus Natator has only 1 species, namely the flatback sea turtle (also called the flatback turtle).

According to the “List of National Key Protected Wild Animals”, the big-headed turtle, the three-striped box turtle, the green sea turtle, the impressed tortoise, the Yunnan box turtle, the loggerhead sea turtle, the tokay gecko, the black-breasted leaf turtle, the olive ridley sea turtle, the hawksbill sea turtle and the leatherback sea turtle are Class II protected animals in China. However, only the green sea turtle, the loggerhead sea turtle, the olive ridley sea turtle, the hawksbill sea turtle and the leatherback sea turtle are sea turtles.

Kemp's ridley sea turtle and the flatback sea turtle are also sea turtles, but they are not on the “List of National Key Protected Wild Animals”. Why is that? It turns out that this is because these two sea turtles are not distributed in China, so they did not make the list. The leatherback sea turtle belongs to the superfamily Chelonioidea, yet forms its own family Dermochelyidae, and is the largest species among the world's turtles and tortoises; it swims swiftly and is extremely capable, hence the title “swimming champion”.