Twenty Blanding’s turtles raised at Potter Park Zoo have been released into the wild!
This summer, our animal care team joined conservation partners to release 20 turtles into carefully selected habitat in Michigan as part of a project looking at the viability of Blanding’s turtle headstarting as a conservation management tool. It’s an exciting next step for a program that has been growing behind the scenes at Potter Park Zoo. Last year, we released our first two head-started Blanding’s turtles. Since then, our team has continued hatching, raising, and caring for young turtles with one goal in mind: getting them big and healthy enough to have a better chance of surviving in the wild.
What Is Headstarting?
For a young turtle, making it to adulthood isn’t easy. Blanding’s turtles face a number of challenges in Michigan, including habitat loss, road mortality, and predation. Eggs and newly hatched turtles are especially vulnerable. That’s where headstarting comes in.
By hatching and raising turtles during this vulnerable stage, our team can give them time to grow larger before release. For a species that may not reach sexual maturity until 14 to 20 years old, helping more turtles survive those early years can make a difference…