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.
Ways to help
The people organizing World Turtle Day share some tips on how you can help turtles.
Never remove turtles or tortoises from the wild unless they are sick or injured.
If that’s the case, talk to a grown-up first so they can help seek proper medical care for it.
If a turtle is crossing a busy street, ask for an adult’s help. The adult can check to make sure the road is clear, pick up the turtle and place it on the side of the road
the turtle is traveling toward. Make sure it’s placed down in the same direction it was going. If the grown-up puts it on the side of the road the turtle was coming from, it will walk into the street again.
Keeping rivers, streams, deserts, forests and beaches clean is a big help to turtles since they can get trapped by litter.
You can also support a turtle conservation or rescue project in your area.