Ten rescued box turtles have new homes in the wild at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s farm in Warren County. The reptiles were released Wednesday and promptly waddled — slowly — into the forest and a thicket of stinging nettles.
Two dozen turtles were rescued in Sept. 2025 from a school courtyard in West Carrollton, Ohio. The population had been living there for around 30 years after being placed by retired staff members. The zoo says the staff were unaware of state regulations against collecting and keeping box turtles and other wild animals.
The school was slated for demolition, so district officials reached out to the Ohio Division of Wildlife to find out about rehoming the terrapins. They ranged from adults to recent hatchlings.
The turtles moved from the zoo to pens at the farm in May in order to get acclimated to the property. There they were mixed with additional confiscated and surrendered turtles to strengthen the group’s genetic diversity…