WELCOME
TURTLE LOVERS!
Let's Shellebrate®! World Turtle Day® is May 23, 2024 sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue! Get ready for lots of action on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more! Download our fun #WorldTurtleDay Party Pack and find more resources!
It has social media with a Facebook cover photo, postcard, badge and more!
ABOUT
WORLD TURTLE DAY®
American Tortoise Rescue, a nonprofit organization established in 1990 for the protection of all species of tortoise and turtle, is sponsoring our annual World Turtle Day® on May 23. The day was created as a yearly observance to help people celebrate and protect turtles and tortoises and their disappearing habitats around the world.
Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson, founders of ATR and World Turtle Day, advocate humane treatment of all animals, including reptiles. Since 1990, ATR has placed about 4,000 tortoises and turtles in caring homes. ATR assists law enforcement when undersize or endangered turtles are confiscated and provides helpful information and referrals to persons with sick, neglected or abandoned turtles.
OUR
TIPS
NEVER BUY
a turtle or tortoise from a pet shop as it increases demand from the wild.
REPORT THE SALE
of any turtle or tortoise of any kind less than four inches. This is illegal throughout the U.S.
REPORT THE CRUELTY
or illegal sales of turtles and tortoises to your local animal control shelter.
NEVER REMOVE
turtles or tortoises from the wild unless they are sick or injured.
WRITE LETTERS
to legislators asking them to keep sensitive habitat preserved or closed to off road vehicles, and to prevent off shore drilling that can lead to more endangered sea turtle deaths.
EMERGENCY CARE
If a tortoise 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.