91 Blanding's Turtle Hatchlings Released In Lake Co.

LAKE COUNTY, IL -- Gary Glowacki, wildlife ecologist with the Lake County Forest Preserves, with the help of college veterinary students and wildlife technicians, recently released 91 Blanding’s turtle hatchlings into local wetlands in an effort to grow the population of the endangered reptile. Once common throughout Lake County, Blanding’s turtles were designated as endangered in the state of Illinois in 2009 due to habitat loss, increased pressure from predators and illegal poaching.

In 2010, the Forest Preserves instituted an official recovery program for this species. It includes a head-starting program where eggs are collected from the field and incubated, according to a news release from the forest preserves. Hatchlings are then held in captivity beyond the point of extreme predation.

Since the start of the program, 881 hatchlings have been released. About 65 percent of those will
survive. But once they make it through the first year, their survival rate climbs to 80 to 88 percent,
Glowacki said. He estimates the local Blanding’s population has tripled to about 522 since the
program began.

The 91 latest Blanding's hatchlings to be released were let back into the wild at an undisclosed location, which was not shared due to the potential for poachers coming to take the turtles, on May 23, Kim Mikus, a communications specialist for the Lake County Forest Preserves, told Patch.

The turtles had been cared for since they were born in 2017 and 2018 and weighed at least 30 grams. The Forest Preserves have been working with experts to insure success of the program and monitor the turtle’s health.

Dr. Matt Allender, a wildlife veterinarian and director of the wildlife epidemiology lab at the University of Illinois, assisted with health assessments. Callie Golba, a graduate student at Northern Illinois University, is also working in her final season with the Lake County Forest Preserves to evaluate the success of the head-starting project and provide recommendations for a long-term turtle management plan.

“To work with these experts on this program has helped ensure long-term Blanding’s turtle
persistence in Lake County through the management, conservation and re-establishment of
viable, free-ranging populations,” Glowacki said.

Funding for the program comes from various sources, including the Adopt-a-Turtle program
managed by the Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves, where people
can become a turtle champion for $120, which gives them naming rights. Titan, Moose, Cannon
Ball, and Dribble were some of the names of this year’s turtles, according to the Forest Preserves.

Participants also receive an e-mail and a picture of their turtle when it is released.

Other entities that have assisted in the recovery program include the Illinois Natural History
Survey, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources, The Nature Conservancy, and Illinois Nature Preserve Commission.

Glowacki said the turtles are an important part of the ecosystem and make Lake County one
of the most biologically diverse landscapes in Illinois.

“It’s also a very important species for determining the health of the ecosystem. If the turtles can continue to persist here, that means we have good habitat, with good air and water quality—essential for a whole variety of other wildlife and the people that live here,” he said.

More Blanding's Turtle Facts

• Blanding’s turtles can live more than 80 years
• Females will travel up to 3 miles to find a proper place to build a nest
• The turtles reach sexual maturity at 14to 20 years of age
• Blanding’s turtles are found from southeastern Ontario, adjacent to Quebec, and southern Nova Scotia, south into New England and west through the Great Lakes to Nebraska, Iowa and extreme northeastern Missouri
• The turtles are endangered because of habitat loss, road mortality, illegal poaching, loss of genetic diversity, and increasing levels of nest predation by human-subsidized predators, such as crows, chipmunks, foxes, skunks and raccoons