Tucked away at the end of a barely marked gravel road in rural Berkeley County — and behind an electrified, barbed-wire fence and an automatic gate with several security cameras — is a haven for endangered freshwater turtles.
This may be the Lowcountry’s best-kept conservation secret. The Turtle Survival Center (TSC) near Cross, S.C., is home to more than 800 turtles from more than two dozen species. The facility is a physical outpost for the conservation group Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), the largest non-marine turtle organization in the world. And you can learn all about it this weekend at the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition.
“We want to tell people about what we do around the world and in South Carolina,” said TSA Communication Manager Elena Duran. “It’s a really exciting time of year for us and a great event to be a part of. We’ve been going for about 12 years now, and we still meet new people every year.”
The TSA, headquartered in North Charleston, started at SEWE in 2014 with a little table and just a few turtles. Now, it’s grown to two booths and multiple tables and a featured time slot in Marion Square…