07/06/2026
🚫🐢STOP TURTLE RACES🐢🚫
‼️Negative Effects Turtle Racing Has on Native Wildlife‼️
➡️ Stress
Wild turtles are not domesticated animals. Being handled by dozens of people, surrounded by loud crowds, bright lights, and constant movement causes intense stress for them. Repeated or prolonged stress can weaken their immune system, making them more susceptible to illness.
Signs of stress include:
- Rapid Breathing
- Attempting to Escape
- Refusing Food Afterward
- Remaining withdrawn in their shells for extended periods of time
➡️ Risk of Injury
During races, turtles can suffer injuries from:
- Being dropped by participants or spectators
- Being stepped on in crowded areas
- Flipping onto their backs, which can cause overheating if they cannot get themselves upright
- Tape, stickers, paint, or markers applied to their shells
- Adhesives can damage the shell’s outer protective layer when removed, and paint or glues may contain harmful chemicals
➡️ Overheating & Dehydration
Many races are held during warm summer festivals. Turtles can quickly overheat on hot pavement or in direct sunlight and may easily become dehydrated if they are not provided access to shade and water.
➡️ Reduced Reproduction
Female turtles disturbed during nesting season may abandon nesting attempts or lay fewer eggs. Since turtles mature slowly and produce relatively few surviving offspring, losing even a few breeding adults can affect local populations.
➡️ Disease Transmission
When many turtles are gathered together, they can easily spread diseases amongst each other and even some diseases to humans...
- Salmonella
- A bacterial infection that can be passed between almost any animal and human
- Ranavirus
- A DNA virus that causes severe infections in amphibians, reptiles, and fish. This virus as a mortality rate of 90%-100%, giving it the potential to eliminate entire species if not controlled.
➡️ Displacement From Home Ranges
Turtles are philopatric which means they have a tendency to remain in or return to its birthplace or familiar local area. They will create a mental map of their home range - taking note of favorable food, ample water sources, and shelter from predators. When they are taken from these areas, it causes them to become very disoriented.
➡️ Increased Mortality After Release
When turtle races are over, turtles are left with injuries, exhaustion, dehydration, diseases, disoriented and/or left in unfamiliar habitats where they struggle to find essentials needed to survive. On average, 50% of the turtles released back into the wild after these races do not end up surviving through the season.
