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Captive rearing and breeding are unlikely to save China’s critically endangered sea turtles

China has committed to restoring populations of critically endangered sea turtles but is focused on conservation methods with minimal evidence of efficacy. China’s National Wildlife Protection Law should be modified to reduce the emphasis on artificial breeding and release.

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Acknowledgements

L.L. and H.-T.S. are supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China 32471736 and 32170532, respectively.

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The authors contributed equally to all aspects of this Comment.

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Correspondence to Larry B. Crowder or Hai-Tao Shi  (史海涛).

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Lin, L., Crowder, L.B. & Shi, HT. Captive rearing and breeding are unlikely to save China’s critically endangered sea turtles. Nat. Rev. Biodivers. 1, 750–751 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44358-025-00109-x

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