(20 Nov 2024)
ALBANIA TORTOISE SANCTUARY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTIONS:
LENGTH: 6:02
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Daias, Albania – 11 November 2024
1. Various of Testudo hermanni tortoises at sanctuary
2. Various of boys looking at the tortoises
3. Wide of exterior of bar-restaurant at the sanctuary
4. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Erjan Guxha, Owner of Turtle Farm Albania:
“The tortoise collection started casually. My profession is a tourist guide. Together with a well-known YouTuber whom I was accompanying as a guide, we saw on the streets some tortoises crushed by cars. He was surprised but I added that such a phenomenon occurs when farmers plough their land. That is very concerning for the future of those tortoises.”
5. Various of children looking at and playing with tortoises
6. Various of tortoises in their enclosures
7. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Erjan Guxha, Owner of Turtle Farm Albania:
“Schools are very interested in giving another kind of education to the children, giving them another concept because they know so much about cats and dogs but have no idea at all about tortoises, if you ask them. We should have protected and and cared about tortoises long ago, and we could have exploited them for tourism too. Walking along a street and seeing a tortoise crossing it, one can hardly see it somewhere else in the world. But you can see that here in Albania. And that is a good omen we have which we need to exploit and also include in the textbooks to raise awareness, to educate kids about how they grow, how they are fed, like every other animal they learn about.”
8. Various of families looking at the tortoises
9. Various of tortoises
10. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Erjan Guxha, Owner of Turtle Farm Albania,
“Besides that, many tourists come to the village turning it into a tourist spot, because we are so near Tirana, and its residents didn’t know there are such beautiful areas nearby. The village has really benefitted.”
11. Wide of enclosure with village of Daias is background
12. Various of children playing with tortoises
13. Various of tortoises
14. Wide of enclosure
15. SOUNDBITE (Albanian) Xhilda Cakalli, visitor to sanctuary:
“I believe that families in Tirana need a proper place where children can play in nature and become part of that. But first, to take them away from the TV set, the iPad, the cell phone. Seeing children all the time with a cell phone at hand is a very usual scenario. The most positive thing here is that children become part of nature. They go away from technology and everything that damages their eyesight, and not only their health but also their development in general.”
16. Various of tortoises
17. Families and children at sanctuary
STORYLINE:
LEAD-IN:
An animal lover in Albania has dedicated his life to rescuing tortoises and raising public awareness about their plight.
Disturbed by the high number of tortoises killed on roads, Erjan Guxha founded Turtle Farm Albania, a sanctuary devoted to their protection.
STORYLINE:
Testudo hermanni, or Hermann’s tortoise.
For millions of years, these reptiles have roamed peacefully across Albania, but many now die on roads.
The species is listed as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
More than 100 tortoises live at this sanctuary near the village of Daias, 14 kilometers (9 miles) east of Albania’s capital, Tirana.
The man behind the project is Erjan Guxha.
Alarmed by the plight of the reptiles, Guxha teamed up with U.S. blogger David Hoffman to establish the rescue center.
Guxha says he has noticed a shift in local attitudes.
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