A global conservation observance enters its 26th year this week with a new website, expanded resources and a renewed push to grow its international reach — all as scientists warn that more than half of the world's turtle species face the threat of extinction.
World Turtle Day, observed annually on May 23, is sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue, a Malibu-based nonprofit that launched the event in 2000.
Conservationists estimate that 61 percent of turtle species are threatened or already extinct, with smuggling, the exotic food and pet trades, habitat destruction and climate change among the primary drivers pushing the animals toward the brink. Biologists warn that without significant action, turtle and tortoise populations could decline dramatically within decades.
Turtles have existed for approximately 220 million years, outlasting ice ages and mass extinctions.
"Turtles survived the dinosaurs," said Susan Tellem, co-founder of American Tortoise Rescue. "It would be a tragedy if they couldn't survive us."
For 2026, ATR is unveiling a redesigned World Turtle Day website featuring expanded free educational resources and official merchandise, alongside a strategy focused on scaling the event's global reach. Last year's observance reached more than 100 million people across nearly 70 countries, with events and social media activity recorded in the United States, Canada, India, Australia, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Borneo, Greece and elsewhere.
Supporters are encouraged to participate by hosting events, posting "shellfies" — turtle-themed photos — on social media and advocating for stronger wildlife protections.
About the organization
American Tortoise Rescue was founded in 1990 by Tellem and her husband, Marshall Thompson, after the couple adopted two captive-bred desert tortoise hatchlings. It was the first national rescue organization in the United States focused exclusively on turtles and tortoises. The organization received 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 1996 and has since rescued or rehomed more than 4,000 animals.
The organization's sanctuary and turtle hospital were destroyed in the November 2018 Woolsey Fire, which burned nearly 97,000 acres across Los Angeles and Ventura counties and destroyed more than 1,600 structures. All 35 hospital patients were evacuated before the fire, and hibernating residents survived in fireproof housing that Thompson had built. Subsequent fires in Malibu — the Franklin Fire in December 2024 and the Palisades Fire in January 2025 — came close to the property but did not breach it.
As part of ATR's 2026 transition, the organization's sanctuary residents — including its largest tortoises and nearly 100 additional turtles and tortoises — have been relocated to Turtle and Tortoise Rescue of Arroyo Grande, a volunteer-led sanctuary providing expanded space and lifelong care.
Thompson, a cinematographer who co-founded ATR with Tellem, died Nov. 2, 2025, at age 77 following a diagnosis of dementia in 2021. Tellem continues to lead the organization as executive director.
About the founder
Tellem, 80, is a veteran Los Angeles public relations executive and registered nurse who has spent decades advocating for turtle and tortoise conservation.
Born May 23, 1945 — the date she later selected for World Turtle Day — Tellem holds a bachelor's degree from Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles and trained as a registered nurse. She began her career as a visiting nurse before moving into public relations, founding her own agency in 1977. The firm was acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi in 1987, after which she served as senior vice president and managing director at Burson-Marsteller. She later relaunched her business as Tellem Grody Public Relations Inc., which specializes in healthcare, entertainment, crisis management and consumer products.
On the advocacy front, Tellem spent nearly two decades campaigning to halt the importation of non-native red-eared sliders and bullfrogs into California's live-food markets. The effort succeeded in 2010, when the California Fish & Game Commission voted 5-0 to end such imports. She continues to advocate for an "adopt, don't shop" approach to turtle ownership and opposes the sale of turtles under four inches in length, a practice that has been banned federally since 1975 due to salmonella risk.
World Turtle Day was trademarked by Tellem and is listed in Chase's Calendar of Events. The observance is intended to draw attention to habitat loss, the exotic pet trade, live-food markets and climate-driven threats to turtles and tortoises worldwide.
More information is available at worldturtleday.org.