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Some of the turtles collected had Some had ‘mercy release’ written on their shells in Chinese characters (REUTERS)
At a drainage pool near a popular hiking site in Hong Kong’s rural Tai Po district, a group of volunteers armed with snorkels, nets and gloves wade through the muddy water to find dozens of turtles left there by residents.
The red-eared slider turtles were released into the wild through a practice known as “mercy release” - a concept rooted in a Buddhist belief that freeing animals brings good fortune.
But many animals are being intentionally captured and sold just to be set free, animal experts said, while the turtles often get hurt or even die after being left in waterways.
Mercy release leads to ill fate for Hong Kong turtles2021|01:56
In Hong Kong, thousands of marine animals are freed every May in the lead up to Buddha’s birthday. The practice, known as “mercy release”, is believed to bring good fortune to people. However, the good intentions of the superstitious can often result in more harm to the animals, than good. Many of them are intentionally captured and sold just to be set free. They can get hurt and be left stranded in murky waterways where they normally don t belong. Sean Lai is the founder of Hong Kong Abandoned Tortoise Concern Group. He warns that releasing turtles in catchwater drains or ponds can kill them. “If they used to be cared for by humans, they won t be able to hunt in the wild, they may not be able to catch the fish, shrimp, or food they need, then they ll starve to death. Or due to the change of weather, they might freeze to death or die from the heat.” Lai and his group of volunteers snorkeled through muddy wat
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Ten conservation success stories when species came back from the brink
The blue whale, the mountain gorilla and the European bison are among the animals that have avoided extinction, showing what works to preserve the world’s wildlife Life 17 February 2021
Getty Images
LOOK at how we missed all 20 of the past decade’s biodiversity targets, or shocking graphs of animals threatened with extinction, and it is easy to be disheartened about the fate of the natural world. “There’s lots of doom and gloom stories around about biodiversity,” says Stuart Butchart at the conservation body BirdLife International. “It would be easy to feel conservation was a pointless exercise and there’s nothing we can do to slow the juggernaut down.”
Extinction message in artist Zheng Bo’s floral exhibition – ‘We need to learn how to live with other species,’ he says
We have got to stop seeing the world from a human-first perspective, the artist argues, or the mass extinction event under way in nature will wipe us out too
Amid a lush tropical garden, he has trained ferns and orchids that grow wild in Hong Kong around bamboo frames that literally spell out his exhibition’s title