We all know that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles started out as abandoned scientific pets - Kidzworld caught up with Corey, an Outreach Coordinator at the exotic wildlife rescue STAR Eco Station in LA to hear about some real life turtles named after our fave heroes in a half-shell!
STAR Eco Station has a livestream of 4 red-eared slidersCourtesy of STAR Eco Station
Kidzworld: Hi Corey! Let's find out about you - how long have you been with the STAR Eco Station?
- Corey: I've been here almost 14 years, started out volunteering and just kind of went to tour guide to one of their outreach instructors.
Kidzworld: What is Star Eco Station?
- Corey: It's an exotic wildlife rescue, an environmental science centre and a children's museum.
Kidzworld: How did it first get started?
- Corey: Kind of a long story, but one of the founders used to work with US Fish and Wildlife Service and basically discovered that a lot of the confiscated animals had nowhere to go, once the poachers or smugglers were fined and prosecuted a lot of the animals were living in a warehouse. So he began looking into rescuing and doing the outreach with rescued animals through his mother's after shcool educational program, Star Inc.
Kidzworld: As an educational centre and museum, why do you think your programs for kids are important? What do kids love the most about visiting the eco station?
- Corey: The hands on experience with the rescued animals is definitely a plus, kids definitely enjoy that. But it's a part of education that's lacking, tieing in kids day to day experience with their environment, letting them know its not a chore to be eco-friendly and giving them a bigger picture of the world with the animals. Even though kids visiting live here in the city (in Los Angeles) there are decisions they can make and things they can practice that affect the world.
Red-eared sliders can grow to a foot long
Kidzworld: You just launched the live Turtle Cam - can you tell us a little bit about it?
- Corey: We've got four rescued turtles, and we've set up a livestream - just in time for the TMNT Blu-ray release.
Kidzworld: What can you see the turtles doing on the livestream?
- Corey: You basically see what they're doing at any given time throughout the day, in as close to a natural environment as we can set up, these turtles were abandoned, they were pets that people basically didn't do any research before aquiring them and thought it was too big of a job and they weren't ready for it. So they are currently up for adoption. The kids will be able to log in and see them eating, basking in their sunlamp, swimming, sleeping.
Kidzworld: Do the turtles have names?
- Corey: Yes! They're actually named after the Ninja Turtles in the movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is available on Blu-Ray NOW!Courtesy of Paramount
Kidzworld: Who named the live cam turtles?
- Corey: The directors and the founders - it was kind of a natural selection - I mean who isn't a ninja turtles fan? We all grew up watching it.
Kidzworld: Are their personalities like the Ninja Turtles?
- Corey: It seems like Leonardo and Michaelangelo are a little more active than the other two.
Kidzworld: Has the blu-ray release inspired any people to adopt turtles
- Corey: No, but usually with movies and holidays people go out and get these pets - but when they don't do research sometimes they're in over their heads! So we get contacted to rescue them and find good homes for them. There are no adopters yet for the live cam turtles, but there is quite a bit of excitement with our campers and kids about having them livestreamed on the website. They're basically celebrities to them right now.
Kidzworld: Anything you'd like everyone to know?
- Corey: Please always look to adopting and rescuing before buying new pets!
Pssst! Ready to check out the Turtle Cam LiveStream? Just look below or head over to the site by clicking here!
Have Your Say
Have you ever owned a rescued pet? What do you think of the Turtle Cam? Let us know in the comments section below.
