AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University students are working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines to give a group of Iowa’s Blanding’s turtles a better chance for survival. Their project will be featured at one of the zoo's "Discover the Wild" events on Sunday, Nov. 17, from 1-2 p.m.
Hatching a plan
The Blanding's turtle is identified as threatened in Iowa and across much of its range due to decades of habitat loss and predation. Its status is currently being reviewed for a possible listing as either federally threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Karen Kinkead, Wildlife Diversity Program coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, started looking for ideas and grant opportunities to protect this declining species more than a decade ago after a "weird snowstorm” in April led to an unusually high mortality for the turtles. Over time, she found interested partners at the zoo and Iowa State, and they hatched a plan to try and improve the turtles' outlook, informed by projects at other zoos and aquariums. They put together a proposal that also includes partners including the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and in 2022, received a grant for the project from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State Wildlife Competitive Grants Program.
Lizzy Lang, a graduate research assistant pursuing a master’s degree in wildlife ecology, and Ayrin Alexander, a senior in animal ecology, have been the dedicated duo carrying out legwork for the project. They have worked long hours outdoors, communicating with public and private landowners, and tracking and trapping the turtles, usually while submerged in their wetland habitats.
"Fortunately, Blanding's turtles are mid-sized. The largest we have found is about four pounds, and they are usually pretty docile," Lang said. "Except you have to be careful during mating season when they’re more feisty and harder to handle."
Over the past year-and-a-half, they caught 26 Blanding's turtles at five sites in two counties. The majority were older adults, confirming the importance of the head-starting project to support development of a new generation for the Blanding’s.
The students delivered five females to the zoo, where the pregnant turtles were induced to lay their eggs and then the eggs were incubated. Fifty-seven tiny hatchlings resulted. The quarter-size turtles will grow through the winter to be released in spring 2025 when they will be about four inches long. At that time, the head-started turtles will be less vulnerable to predators.
A finicky undertaking
Raising baby turtles is a "finicky undertaking," said Chris Eckles, chief engagement officer for the zoo. An earlier effort at the zoo to pilot the process was not successful, she said. "We had some things to learn. For example, it's hard to tell if turtle eggs have been fertilized. We would have been happy with just a few hatching this time, so we're thrilled to have this large group of thriving baby turtles."
When it's time for their re-release, the students will take the carefully numbered young turtles to the original location where the females were found and re-released.
"It's exciting to see the early success of our efforts! We hope it will end up in long-term gains for the Blanding's turtles in Iowa," Lang said. "We will fit some of the turtles with small telemetry tags before release so they can be tracked to learn more about their habits and survival.”
The partners plan to seek additional funding to continue this work, according to Kinkead. “There is still a lot to learn about the Blanding’s turtle. The telemetry data will be important to help answer our questions. We may think of these turtles as only living in water, but they do spend time on dry land, where females nest. They need nesting habitat nearby that isn't too obstructed by tree roots or shaded as trees or crops leaf out, which can cool the developing eggs. Part of our grant aims to support landowners in improving habitat at the sites where we find turtles.”
Not a pet
The hatchling Blanding's turtles will not be on public display at the zoo, even at the event on Nov. 17, Eckles said. The zoo will share pictures, while keeping the hatchlings in a dedicated area where staff can manage the environment to keep them safe and healthy.
The Blanding's turtle effort is part of the Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) Program the zoo participates in with other zoos and aquariums nationally and internationally. Young turtles, especially, are threatened by poachers who often sell them to pet stores. (In Iowa, collecting wildlife without a license is illegal.)
"Each month, we highlight one of our SAVING the WILD conservation priorities, and in November, it's all about turtles," Eckles said. "We always include a focus on what people can do to take action themselves. This month, the message is 'Not a Pet.' Turtles are a wonderful part of our native habitats, but like most wild animals, they have a lot of very specific needs and do not make good pets."
Contacts
Stephen Dinsmore, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 515-294-1348, cootjr@iastate.edu
Karen Kinkead, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 712-330-8461, karen.kinkead@dnr.iowa.gov
Chris Eckles, Blank Park Zoo, 515- 974-2551, cneckles@blankparkzoo.net
Ann Y. Robinson, Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications, 515-294-3066, ayr@iastate.edu