Educational Reptile Program Calls for End to Perham’s Turtle Races

PERHAM (KDLM) – Activists are putting Perham’s Turtle Races into question.

Snake Discovery, an educational reptile program that hosts events across the Midwest is calling for an end to the 40 year turtle race tradition in Perham.

In a YouTube video that now has nearly 400,000 views, Emily Roberts of Snake Discovery calls Perham’s Turtle Races cruel and unsustainable, “turtle races might sound like an innocent family fun event, but in reality it causes a lot of turtle deaths.”

Roberts believes more than half of relocated turtles die due to the stress of turtle racing.

The Perham Focus reports that the city of Perham and the Chamber of Commerce were advised not to comment on the matter. The video can be viewed below.