Evelina's family opened a temporary detention and rehabilitation center for Nikolsky's Mediterranean turtles a few years ago, Channel One says.
Injured turtles are brought from all over Russia. Tourists take them with them as a souvenir and then they face difficulties in their maintenance, the turtles begin to get sick.
"People often think that the content of such a turtle is simple: it is enough to give a piece of bread and put it under the battery. But in order for the turtle to feel good, it needs special conditions - a terrarium, ultraviolet light," says the girl.
Evelina began rescuing turtles as a child — together with her mother and sister, Kuban News reported. Now the girl is studying at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the Kuban State Agrarian University.
Nikolsky's Mediterranean turtle is an endangered species. In Russia it lives only in the Krasnodar Territory, there are only a few thousand of them left. It is the only land turtle in our country.
While scientists and environmentalists are trying to figure out how to save the population, Evelina is doing what she can. She takes care of the turtles and releases them back into the forest. Over the years of its existence the center has saved about a thousand turtles.