Rare turtles are making a comeback after a virus almost wiped them out

April 11, 2024 8:09 PM

These rare turtles are making a comeback after a virus almost wiped them out. Nearly 100 captive-bred Bellinger River snapping turtles have been released into the wild, the biggest number yet for the breeding program after a virus nearly wiped them out in 2015.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (2 comments total)

I had a book as a child in which there were images of a bunch of rare and/or endangered animals. I remember the duck-billed platypus as one of them, and also a snapping turtle. This is just to say 1. yay for the conservation / rescue of these turtles! and 2. the cute picture of the snapping turtle pup in the article is nothing like the ferocious drawing of a snapping turtle that was in that book of my memory!
posted by chavenet at 12:48 AM on April 12

Now we’re hoping they can survive the water quality problems from the booming number of tourists visiting the area. The locals keep removing the road signs but everyone uses gps now so that strategy doesn’t work anymore. It’s an area that intersects state forest and national park so there’s minimal facilities for less than hygienic campers which impacts the river. Council can’t do anything except erect flashing signs saying “go before you go” which is a bit ineffectual.
posted by thixotemperate at 4:38 AM on April 12