Parents have been urged to buy their children toys instead of live turtles, in preparation for the release of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film later this week.

The premiere of the 1990 movie prompted a spike in the pet turtle trade, especially the popular red-eared slider — and their subsequent release into the environment.

Local waters already contain thousands of the sliders, which have the potential to communicate diseases to the endangered native diamondback terrapins, according to the Department of Conservation Services.

Wildlife ecologist Mark Outerbridge said that abandoning the animals into the wild was illegal, and that unwanted sliders could be dropped off at the Bermuda Aquarium instead of being released.

According to the group American Tortoise Rescue, about 90 percent of the reptile pets died in the wake of the initial fad sparked by the film.

The latest version is to be release internationally on August 8.