Word Turtle Day Video: Baby Turtle Releasing In Puerto Escondido, Mexico

You’ve never seen anything cuter than baby Mexican sea turtles flopping around on the beach. In honor of World Turtle Day–an environmental day initiated in 2000 by the American Tortoise Rescue in Malibu, California–we’re posting this video of the little endangered guys being released in Puerto, Escondido.

Here’s some information from The Humane Society about turtles:

Turtles as Pets

Turtles are by far the most popular pet reptile. In 2002, according to the American Pet Product Manufacturers Association, nearly two million American households kept at least one turtle as a pet. This constitutes nearly 50% of all households that keep a pet reptile.

The price of this pet ownership, at least for the animals, is high: Over-collection of turtles for the pet trade has harmed many wild turtle populations in the United States and abroad. Each year thousands of turtles perish during capture and shipping because of mistreatment and neglect. Of those who survive, thousands die annually because owners do not care for them properly. Most people who buy turtles don’t realize how difficult they are to care for, nor do they know that turtles pose a threat to human health because the reptiles carry Salmonella bacteria. The bacteria can cause severe and possibly life-threatening illness, especially in young children.

The Turtle Trade

Throughout the world, the number of turtle species that have become critically endangered has doubled in the last five years due to their popularity in the food and traditional medicine trade. In the United States, turtles comprise approximately 95% of reptile exports each year. Thirty-five million turtles were exported from the United States between 2000–2002.

The majority, more than seven million per year, were freshwater turtles destined for Southeast Asia to supply the growing food markets. Because many wild turtle populations in Asia have been decimated by over-collection, dealers have begun targeting U.S. turtle populations to meet the Asian market demands.

In May 2003, North Carolina passed legislation allowing the state Department of Natural Resources to protect native reptile and amphibian species from exploitation before they become threatened and endangered from over-collection. In order to stop turtle collection for the Asian market, the state then banned the harvest of freshwater turtles. South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama are considering similar action. In addition to conservation concerns, turtles in the food trade are treated with little or no regard as living creatures.