Follow Us!

Walking Shark Protections Bring Hope for other Species by Mary Kate McCoy

This article is posted with permission from Conservation International.  It originally appeared in their Blog: Notes from the Field (April 19, 2023) by Mary Kate McCoy.

The Indonesian government has granted six species of threatened “walking sharks” the highest level of protection across all national waters — a move experts hope will lead to the conservation of other sharks, whose numbers have plummeted due largely to the shark fin trade.

“Walking sharks are small, charismatic and absolutely harmless to humans. Our hope is that they will be ambassadors for the conservation of their toothier cousins,” said Iqbal Herwata Putra, a scientist with Konservasi Indonesia, Conservation International’s main partner in the country.

“This is a big step that culminates years of effort,” he added. “We hope it will give walking sharks the chance to thrive in a changing climate.”

Read the blog here:

https://www.conservation.org/blog/notes-from-the-field-walking-shark-protections-bring-hope-for-other-species.

Mary Kate McCoy is a staff writer at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? Sign up for email updates. Also, please consider supporting our critical work.

About the Author