The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Totally Turtle!
World Turtle Day is May 23. This special day for our shelled friends is sponsored by the American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization. World Turtle Day is a time for people to celebrate and learn about turtles and tortoises. This week, The Mini Page takes a look at these fascinating animals.
Fast facts
World Turtle Day celebrates both turtles and tortoises. They belong to a specific scientific order of reptiles — Testudines (tesstoo-duh-neez).
It’s reported that 61% of turtles around the globe are threatened or extinct. According to experts, turtles are the most threatened of the major groups of vertebrates, including mammals, birds and fish.
Turtles
Turtles are omnivores, so they eat both plants and meat. A terrestrial turtle, one that lives on land, might fill up on grubs, mushrooms, earthworms, grass, berries and beetles.
Hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles are specialists, so they find a specific food to eat most of the time. Hawksbills often eat sea sponges because their habitats are coral reefs, which is also where sea sponges are found.
Leatherback sea turtles eat jellyfish because they live far out in the open ocean and can dive deep for food. They’re able to find jellyfish in the water column, or the space between the ocean floor and the surface in the part of the sea where they live.
Tortoises
Tortoises spend all of their lives on land. They don’t spend much time around water unless they are drinking it or taking a bath. Tortoises are typically vegetarians, which means they don’t eat meat. They dine on fungi, leaves from plants, grass, and fruits like melons, pears and apples.
The Turtle Conservation Society says the lifespan of a regular-sized turtle can be up to 80 years. But a large turtle can live more than 100 years!
A giant tortoise named Jonathan lives on a remote island in the south Atlantic Ocean called Saint Helena. He is 190 years old! He spends most of his time eating and sleeping.