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Happy World Turtle Day
With roughly half of all turtle species at risk of extinction, conservationists say now is a crucial time to stick out our necks for these ancient animals.
Wed, May 22 2013 at 3:07 PM
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SLOW AND STEADY: The Aldabra giant tortoise is a threatened species, although it also has a long history of conservation, dating as far back as Charles Darwin. (Photo: Tonya Laker/Citizen Image)
The earliest turtles evolved up to 300 million years ago, branching off from a group of reptiles more closely related to crocodiles and birds than to lizards and snakes. Lots of turtle species have come and gone since then, including some spectacular ones like the car-sized "coal turtle" or the Koopa-like Meiolania damelipi.
But today's turtles face an unusually widespread danger, with about half of Earth's 328 known species listed as threatened or endangered with extinction. They're largely under siege from humans, yet unlike King Koopa, they didn't bring this on themselves — and they're up against more than just a few plumbers and princesses.
Poaching for food and the international pet trade are two of turtles' biggest threats, especially for high-demand species like the American bog turtle or the Roti Island snake-necked turtle. Habitat loss is another problem, since many turtle and tortoise species depend on specific ecological niches. Land turtles are also often killed by vehicles on roads, while sea turtles face a litany of risks such as oil spills, boat strikes and fishing gear. Slow growth and reproduction rates can make it even harder to overcome these hurdles.
In light of all this, May 23 is World Turtle Day, an annual holiday founded in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue to raise awareness of turtles' troubles. According to ATR co-founder Susan Tellem, the holiday is meant to generally boost interest in turtles while also specifically reducing ecological pressure from the pet trade.
"World Turtle Day was started to increase respect and knowledge for the world's oldest creatures," she says in a press release. "These gentle animals have been around for about 200 million years, yet they are rapidly disappearing as a result of the exotic food industry, habitat destruction, global warming and the cruel pet trade." The ultimate goal, she adds, "is to stop the illegal trade in turtles and tortoises around the world."
That's a daunting task, but ATR knows slow and steady wins the race. The group rescues "abandoned or lost" turtles on an individual basis, having helped more than 3,000 since its inception in 1990. The idea of World Turtle Day is to expand this effort globally, spreading the notion of turtles as wildlife rather than pets. And in that spirit, here are 12 amazing turtle photos, plus a few tips on helping these ancient animals in your local ecosystem:
Hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)
Range: Tropical oceans worldwide
Status: Critically endangered
Threats: Bycatch in fishing gear, boat strikes, oil spills, disturbance of eggs in nest
Indian narrow-headed softshell turtle (Chitra indica)
Range: India, Nepal, Bangladesh
Status: Endangered
Threats: Habitat loss, hunting (for food, materials and folk medicines)
Bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii)
Range: Eastern U.S.
Status: Critically endangered
Threats: Habitat loss, pet trade, invasive plants
Eastern long-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis)
Range: Australia
Status: Least concern
Threats: Road mortality, pet trade
Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin)
Range: Eastern U.S., Gulf Coast
Status: Near threatened
Threats: Habitat loss, hunting for food, bycatch in crab traps, pet trade, roads
Wood turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)
Range: Northeast U.S., southeast Canada
Status: Endangered
Threats: Habitat loss, pet trade, roads, farming accidents
Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)
Range: Southeast U.S.
Status: Vulnerable
Threats: Habitat loss, hunting for food, pet trade, roads
Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)
Range: Southern U.S.
Status: Vulnerable
Threats: Habitat loss, hunting for food, pet trade, bycatch in fishing gear
Kemp's ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii)
Range: Western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico
Status: Critically endangered
Threats: Bycatch in fishing gear, boat strikes, oil spills, disturbance of eggs in nest
Painted turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Range: Canada, U.S., Mexico
Status: Least concern
Threats: Habitat loss, pet trade, roads
Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle (Podocnemis unifilis)
Range: Amazon River Basin
Status: Vulnerable
Threats: Pet trade, hunting for food, collection of eggs for food
Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)
Range: Tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide
Status: Endangered
Threats: Bycatch in fishing gear, boat strikes, oil spills, disturbance of eggs in nest
If you'd like to pitch in this World Turtle Day, here are five tips from American Tortoise Rescue (ATR differentiates between turtles and tortoises, but for simplicity they're all called turtles here.) Check out the group's website for more ways to get involved.
- Never buy a turtle from a pet shop, as it increases demand from the wild.
- Never remove turtles from the wild unless they are sick or injured.
- If a turtle is crossing a busy street, pick it up and send it in the same direction it was going — if you try to make it go back, it will turn right around again.
- Report cruelty or illegal sales of turtles to your local animal control shelter.
- Report the sale of any turtle of any kind less than four inches. This is illegal everywhere in the U.S.
Also on MNN:
Editor's Note: This post has been updated since its original publication on May 22, 2012.
Click here for photo credits
Hawksbill sea turtle: ZUMA Press
Indian softshell turtle: Krishna Kumar Mishra/Wikimedia Commons
Bog turtle: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Flickr
Eastern long-necked turtle: Marcus Couper/Flickr
Diamondback terrapin: Becky Gregory/Flickr
Wood turtle: Richard Bonnett/Flickr
Gopher tortoise: Craig O'Neal/Flickr
Alligator snapping turtle: ZUMA Press
Kemp's ridley sea turtle: U.S. National Ocean Service/Flickr
Painted turtle: Jason Empey/Flickr
Yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle: Jack Zalium/Flickr
Baby green sea turtle: ZUMA Press
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I saw a full grown sea turtle from a pier in Southern California. It looked like a submerged volkswagon beatle (yes it was that big) and I was truly in awe of its grace. It snagged every firsherman's line and just continued on its way toward a beach with a diminishing crowd. I always wondered who was more out of place.
Same here I love turtles, beautiful little animals and I do mean little because I have never seen a turtle bigger a book bag but I have two little ones in my office which keep me happy on a day to day basis. I do anything to stay happy. Love reading this type of posts.
Turtle are one of the wonderful species of this planet. Increasing human exploitation of this animal should be stopped and mass awareness need to be done. Let May 23rd be dedicated as World Turtle Day.
Prof Prem Raj Pushpakaran
www.incredb.org/investigator.php?incredb_id=373
Tree Huggers
Every time I would help a turtle across the road, in the same direction that it was traveling, it would still turn around and head the opposite direction. I guess I just didn't have a trustworthy face :)