By Melany Tavarez, age 10
Turtles are really interesting animals that lived among the dinosaurs!
They are in the family of reptiles called testudines and are amniotes, or animals that breathe air and lay their eggs on land, but also live in the water. Turtles first appeared in the world over 200 million years ago and have a long lifespan. According to National Geographic, the oldest known living land animal, Jonathan, a Seychelles giant turtle, is approximately 193 years old!
Some turtles eat meat, some eat plants, and some eat both. The purpose of a turtle shell is to protect turtles from predators or any danger. But currently 129 out of 300 turtle species are endangered.
People are helping endangered turtles. For example, BB is a baby loggerhead turtle that was stranded in New South Wales, Australia, reports The Guardian. When BB was found by conservationists from Taronga Zoo in Sydney, BB was dehydrated and badly constipated. The conservationists put BB in pools because the sea was too cold for BB. They fed BB squid, sardines, and marine vitamins so the baby loggerhead would feel better.
BB is now living with the other turtles and is among the 21 turtles being tracked by Taronga’s turtle tagging project, according to The Guardian. Conservationists know where turtles are because they use satellite trackers.
Scientists with the Taronga project are tracking where turtles live. Strong waves and warmer water temperatures force turtles to move to new territories. Turtles are highly sensitive to changes, so this makes them more likely to get diseases.
Some humans have a negative impact on turtles. As Kimberly Vinette Herrin, a veterinary officer at Taronga, tells The Guardian, “We see a lot more impact from humans … [such as] fishing lines, boat strikes, plastic ingestion.” This is unfortunate because turtles are such cool animals!
