The hawksbill turtle is listed as “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List and is banned from international trade as an Appendix 1 species of CITES.
The hawksbill turtle is currently listed as “Critically Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. International trade in the hawksbill turtle is banned amongst signatory nations by its listing on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
In 2001, the IUCN Red List Standards and Petitions Subcommittee upheld the “Critically Endangered” listing of the hawksbill, based on ongoing and long-term declines in excess of 80% within the time frame of three generations and ongoing exploitation. The Subcommittee review cited “convincing evidence of reductions in excess of 80% over the last three generations at many, if not most of the important breeding sites throughout the global range of the species”. Not surprisingly, those declines reflect the intensity of the tortoiseshell trade in the 20th Century.
Sources: (Mortimer & Donnelly, 2008; Pilcher; Wikimedia Foundation, 2018; WWF)
Image: q phia
