Every year at an elementary school in Kita-ku, Niigata City, wild spot-Billed turtles come to the courtyard to raise children.
It was the elementary school students and the teacher who saved the pinch of the parents and children of the spot-Billed turtle who was trying to move to the nearby river.
At Kuzutsuka Elementary School in Kita-ku, Niigata City, a pair of wild spot-Billed turtles come to the biotope in the courtyard every spring to lay eggs and raise children.
This year, 13 chicks grew up safely, and on the 2nd of this month, the parents and children of the eastern spot-Billed chicks crossed the gymnasium in a line to move to the Niigo River, which runs near the school.
However, it is said that the whereabouts of one chick disappeared when approaching the corridor.
Elementary school students and teachers who were watching over the move searched for it by relying on the bark, found the chicks that had fallen under the drainboards in the corridor, and rescued them.
Then Hina rushed to her mother and siblings, and her move was completed successfully.
Izumi Sakai, a teacher who was present, said, "I was relieved that I was able to move safely. Since the spot-Billed turtle is a living teaching material for children, I hope they will show up again next year."
At school, we will continue to watch over the spawning and moving of eastern spot-Billed turtles with our children.