Welcome to Turtle-Tech’s four-part series looking at endangered and protected turtle and tortoise species native to the United States.  Although turtle keeping is a popular hobby and interest here in the U.S. and many thousands of pet turtles and tortoises can be found throughout the States, there are still some species that are generally “off limits” to the common hobbyist. In this series we will look at seven individual species native to the United States and two imported species now common here, all under Federal protection. We will highlight two/three species per series, our first being the Bog Turtle from our Northeastern States and the Yellow Blotched Map Turtle from The Great Southern State of Mississippi. Subsequent article sections will deal with the Ringed Map Turtle and the Plymouth and Alabama Red-bellied Turtles. And a look at the Desert Tortoise from our western states and the Gopher Tortoise from our eastern States. All Federally Protected. And finally, a look at two imported resident species, the Sulcata Tortoise, and the Indian Spotted Turtle, while not native here in North America, still protected by international laws.  

Currently the US Fish and Wildlife Service list six species of indigenous freshwater turtles and two tortoise species as protected or monitored in some manner by direct Federal Laws and many other species with State imposed restrictions. Some species cannot be removed from their natural range under any conditions, while other species can be removed in limited numbers with the proper permits or licenses. Some species can be held legally but only in limited numbers. Florida, for example limits the ownership of the Alligator Snapping Turtle to one per individual while Louisiana limits the ownership of Box Turtles to four per individual. In South Carolina, new laws prohibit the selling of nine species indigenous to that State and limits ownership of others.

These assorted State and Federal laws are designed to slow, and in some cases completely stop the interaction with people so that wild populations are left alone to propagate without interference. Though well intended, these various restrictions are viewed by many as detrimental to the very species they are designed to protect, and completely miss the mark in regard to securing these species survival. Simply restricting interaction with the pet and breeder turtle communities does nothing to address massive habitat destruction, pesticidal poisoning, water supply pollution, or the ever-growing fragmentation of turtle populations by farming and sprawling rural developments. Unless these major issues destroying the turtles environment are addressed, simply limiting interaction with people will have little effectiveness on the long term survival of these species. Many successfully argue that captive breeding is the only way of truly guaranteeing a species survival. 

Turtle-Tech will address these issues and the road to effective conservation in an up-coming article “The Crossroads to Turtle Conservation”. But for now, let’s look at our first two protected species.

The Bog Turtle

Some of the following material is courteously of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and we would like to thank them for certain information regarding this species. Their full article can be accessed on the USFWS website. Pertinent excerpts are compiled below with additions.

At only about 4” long, the Bog turtle is one of North America’s smallest turtles. This species typically shows a bright yellow, orange, or red blotch on each side of the head. The shell has an overall oval shape and is most commonly dark in color.

Bog turtles favor open meadows, swamps, sphagnum bogs, and other assorted shallow wetland habitats. Bright sunshine and higher humidity levels are preferable.  Foraging for foods, basking, nesting, and hibernation all happen in this small very specific category of habitat. In its northern range of New York east to Massachusetts and south to Maryland, these turtles are usually only active from April through September, depending on local weather patterns. In its southern range of Virginia south into Georgia, longer activity durations can be attributed to a longer spring-summer weather cycle. Curiously, both isolated northern and southern populations are separated by hundreds of miles of few or no Bog turtle populations whatsoever. Bog turtles, like all North American terrestrial-semi aquatic turtles are omnivorous, feeding on numerous small insects and various plant materials.

Strict protection was awarded the Bog Turtle by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1997, and it is the only United States freshwater/terrestrial turtle species admitted to the CITIES international protection act under Appendix 1: “threatened with extinction”. Because of this stasis, a close control over the Bog turtle population is attempted.  The USFWS states that “The greatest threats to the Bog turtle are the loss, degradation, and fragmentation of its habitat from wetland alteration, development, pollution, invasive species, and natural vegetational succession.” It does add, almost as an afterthought, collection.

There are programs quietly underway to captive breed the Bog turtle that have met with some success.  Captive breeding may be the key to the Bog Turtles survival, until work can be done to somehow reduce or stop the destruction of its habitat.

The Yellow Blotched Map Turtle

The Yellow Blotch Map turtle gained federal protection in 1991 after a strong case was made for its benefit the year earlier in mid-1990. This was done despite the fact that this species only shows up on the CITES listing on appendix 3 (which gives it little protection). But because of its beauty and extremely limited distribution, its protection is certainly warranted. It’s easy to imagine how the over collection of this beautiful species could quickly become a strain on wild populations.

The range of the Yellow Blotched map turtle, like most map turtle species, is tied directly to the river systems it inhabits. In this species case, its range consists of the narrowly defined area of the Pascagoula River Basin system, a system of rivers, creeks, and bayous originating in mid-Mississippi and flowing south to the Gulf of Mexico. Approximately 9700 square miles. The Yellow Blotched shares this river system and limited range with the Pascagoula Map turtle, yet at this time it is the single species with Federal protection.  Despite this governmental oversite, the Yellow Blotched faces a huge uphill battle in regard to the species survival. It has been evaluated that current populations are facing tremendous pressure from natural predators destroying nesting sites at the rate of upwards of 82%. In addition to this, gravel mining along the rivers continue to add silt to the water, destroying the mollusk populations the turtles feed on.

But help is on the way for the Yellow Blotch Map turtle as it has recently began to benefit from private breeding programs, and thankfully baby captive raised Yellow Blotched Map Turtles can now be obtained legally in many States. These babies, raised by dedicated turtle hobbyist, will provide future generations and opportunities for additional captive breeding projects. This captive breeding approach, turtle hobbyist involvement, together with habitat protection, will combine to assure the survival of this species.

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