In case you missed it, photos of a seemingly innocent Chinese New Year family reunion dinner recently went viral, but there was more to the photos than meets the eye!
In a Facebook post, the photos featured a wide range of seafood being served, but netizens quickly noticed an item on the menu that shouldn’t be on the table at all - turtle eggs!
After the family received plenty of backlash online, the photos were taken down, but not long after they resurfaced on the 1StopBorneo Wildlife Facebook page with many people calling for action to be taken against the family.
Aduh!!! Masih ada lagi orang yang makan telur penyu! Kes di Beluran, Sabah. Janganlah makan telur penyu yang semakin...
Posted by 1StopBorneo Wildlife on Saturday, February 13, 2021
The caption read: “There are still people eating turtle eggs! The case is in Beluran, Sabah. Please do not eat turtle eggs that are going extinct. Whoever knows these people, please inform the police. If you see posts about people selling or eating turtle eggs, please report as well."
According to The Star, The Sabah Wildlife Department is aware of what happened, although it has yet to receive any official report on the incident.
Photo via Clean Malaysia
For your information, the sale and consumption of turtle eggs are banned in Sabah.
In fact, humans shouldn’t be consuming them at all, due to the high concentrations of metal that exceeds international food safety standards, as well as the presence of bacteria, parasitic worms, biotoxins, and environmental pollutants that can be harmful to humans.
Sadly, turtle meat and eggs are still being sold in the black market as there is still demand from exotic food hunters, and if this act isn’t stopped, future generations probably won’t be able to even see turtles anymore.
We hope they’re brought to justice!
by Kyle Roshen Jacob
