Manta rays are hunted for their gill rakers used in Chinese traditional medicine, despite lacking scientific evidence of medicinal benefit and facing population decline.
Manta rays are highly intelligent animals that show signs of self-awareness and engage in complex social behaviors. They are often harpooned at the surface, a method that causes acute trauma and a prolonged death. Their slow reproductive rate means populations cannot recover quickly from hunting pressure. The combination of high intelligence, extreme pain during capture, and population-level collapse makes manta ray hunting a significant welfare concern.