First it was a baby dolphin. Then it was a shark. Now a sea turtle in Lebanon is the latest victim of beachgoers who think pulling an animal out of the ocean to take a selfie is a good idea.
The good news is that the turtle didn’t die, according to Buzzfeed. But it was severely injured with a wound to its head from a sharp object, so we very nearly added a third death. The Lebanese Civil Defense, the emergency services department of Lebanon, is working with Animals Lebanon to nurse the turtle back to health. Hopefully in a few months it will be released back into the wild.
What remains baffling is why this is a trend and why people do this, especially to sea animals. Leaving aside for a moment that wildlife can and will fight back against attempts to forcibly remove it from its environment and not asphyxiate, it’s a horrible and unnecessary thing to do. No one needs a selfie with an animal so badly that the animal needs to die for it. Anybody who wants to see animals and take photographs of them should do so from a safe distance. Being far away isn’t just better for people, it’s better for the animals too.
(via Buzzfeed)
