RSS
Home
Turtle management at the Phoenix Zoo
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Photo copyright Phoenix Herpetelogical Society
Ever wonder what happens to all those turtles in the moat of the Phoenix Zoo? Come on over and find out for yourself.
Friday, April 17 to Sunday, April 19, 2009
The first non-native species turtle trapping was held at the zoo in 1999. Since then, more than 500 turtles have been captured and removed. All female non-native turtles will be removed from the pond and placed with the Phoenix Herpetological Society, to help reduce population growth, and keep the pond from becoming overcrowded. This will further prevent them from traveling to nearby waters where they could out-compete, spread disease to or prey on native turtles and other native aquatic wildlife.
All native turtle species and male non-native turtle species found at the pond will be returned to the water to continue to provide zoo visitors with the opportunity to see a variety of native and non-native turtles. Turtles will be trapped and measured, weighed, sexed, species verified and marked for identification.
The event will take place in conjunction with the Phoenix Zoo’s Earth Day celebrations, and it will also be used as a teaching experience for the Game and Fish Department’s homeschool program.
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration representative will be on-site to provide information on pet turtles and salmonella infection
Traps will be set at 8 a.m. on Friday and checked at noon and 4 p.m. that day. Traps will be rechecked at 8 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. each of the following days. Trap checking will take approximately 2 hours
Related Articles:
Comments
