World Turtle Day is celebrated every May 23 to raise awareness about the threats faced by turtles and tortoises.
Turtles, tortoises and terrapins, which together make up the order Testudines, have evolved over millions of years, dating back to the Triassic period. However, recent reports show that more than half of the world’s 359 turtle and tortoise species now face extinction. They have outlived dinosaurs and survived multiple ice ages, but they can’t evolve quickly enough to keep up with human pressures, including climate change, researchers have concluded.
The IUCN has logged a total of 68 turtle, terrapin and tortoise species that are critically endangered. One of the most endangered, the Burmese roofed turtle (Batagur trivittata), is estimated to have just 10 mature individuals left in the wild.
However, this past year was not all bad news. Floreana giant tortoises (Chelonoidis niger niger), were once believed extinct after disappearing from Ecuador’s Galápagos Islands roughly 180 years ago. In February, they returned to Floreana Island thanks to a long-running breeding program using tortoises from another island that still carried Floreana tortoise DNA.
In addition, green turtles (Chelonia mydas), whose range is global, were moved from the endangered list to least concern after its population increased by around 28% since the 1970s.
