World Turtle’s Day is celebrated on May 23 in view of all kinds of turtles and tortoises. This annual observance was planned for the first time in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue, with a motive to increase awareness about the animals, their welfare and their increasingly threatened habitats.

As per the World Turtle Day Facebook page, Turtle Day founders both Susan Tellem and Marshall Thompson have been targeting rehabilitation of reptiles. They are also acting to assist the law enforcement in ‘investigating and retrieving abused or neglected turtles’.

In the site, Susan Tellem mentioned that throughout the world, including India, Australia and many other, organizations are hosting a World Turtle’s Day.

In addition to it, Wildlife Centre of Virginia in Waynesboro has also participated and celebrated the ‘World Turtle Day’, in order to preserve the ecology of the Turtles.

At present, there are 24 Turtles in Virginia center. The center is nurturing the turtles in a good way. The Centre held educational workshops with a motive to encourage and to create awareness among people against the rising cruelty and the illegal sales of turtles and tortoises throughout the week.

The director of outreach at the Wildlife Center of Virginia Amanda Nicholson, said, “We encourage everyone to take the ‘turtle promise’ which is, ‘I promise to leave the turtles alone, unless I’m helping them cross the road. The wildlife center reminds people that turtles should not be removed from their natural habitat”.

There are many things that you can do in order to preserve Turtles. First of all, one should never buy a turtle or a tortoise from the pet shop or a store, as it would increase the demand from the forest.

Secondly, you should not take the turtle from the wild until unless a turtle or a tortoise is injured or sick.