Zoo Knoxville is working to save a critically endangered turtle species that calls the Appalachian Mountains its home.
The bog turtle lives in the mountains from Georgia to New York, but in recent years its population has declined for a number of reasons, including poachers, traffic deaths, and invasive non-native plants taking over their habitat.
The species is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and declining in parts of North Carolina, so Zoo Knoxville is working with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission to give the turtles a head start.
Six newly hatched turtles will be raised in captivity and eventually be released on May 2019 into an N.C. bog. The zoo said this will give the turtles a much better chance of survival since young turtles are prime targets for predators.
"Imagine being the size of a nickel or quarter in the wild... a lot of things can eat you. We help to kind of help them get a good size on them," Zoo Knoxville herpetologist Stephen Nelson said.
Zoo Knoxville has been giving turtles a 'head start' since the mid-1980s. These are the zoo's first North Carolina native turtles.
