91Èȱ¬

World Turtle Day happens every year on 23 May and began back in 2000.

The aim is to educate people around the world about what can be done to protect the threatened habitats of turtle and tortoise species.

And it's also a great opportunity to celebrate - or shell-ebrate - these incredible reptiles.

Sea turtles have been around for more than 100 million years.

But now nearly all species are classified as endangered, with three of the seven species left being critically endangered, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Human activity, such as killing turtles for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells have had a huge impact on their numbers.

Many turtle species have also had their habitat destroyed by over-development of holiday resorts and big ports.

They are also killed accidentally by fishing nets and other equipment.

Climate change has an impact on turtle nesting sites; by changing the temperature of the sand, the gender of the hatchlings is affected. So there are too many females and not enough males to help numbers grow.

Conservation groups are working hard across the globe to try to save these precious animals and protect their habitat.