Small endangered species deserve our attention, too

Q. I'm a children's author living in New Jersey and researching a book about the bog turtle. Many people call the bog turtle "the smallest turtle in North America." Can you help me confirm this as a fact to tell my young readers? So far, I haven't been able to do so.

A. Yes, as an adult, the smallest turtle in the United States is the rare bog turtle, based on extensive ecological research and using all criteria for measuring body size in turtles. The shell length of an average bog turtle is under 4 inches. The largest one ever reported was less than 4½ inches. Maximum body weight recorded is less than 4 ounces. They reach maturity when they are only 2¾ inches long. Second place for smallness among U.S. turtles is the flattened musk turtle, with a maximum size of slightly under 5 inches. I checked with turtle biologist Jeff Lovich, coauthor of “Turtles of the United States and Canada,” to confirm the size records.

Bog turtles are pretty little things. Shells can range from mahogany to black; a bright spot on the side of the head is yellow, orange or red. The species is protected by the Endangered Species Act because of the decline throughout its geographic range. The only time I have ever seen them was in a marshy area in Pennsylvania where we caught several by reaching under the banks of a small stream running through a cow pasture. Small scattered populations still persist from lower New England to southern North Carolina. Rare reports of bog turtles have been made in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, so protection also extends to those states.

The two primary reasons for the gradual disappearance of bog turtles are (1) loss of the boggy, acidic habitats they require for survival; (2) the illegal removal of individuals to be sold in the pet trade. Some habitat loss can be avoided by not allowing development or highway construction through the fragile habitats they depend on. These tiny turtles require the quiet, undisturbed environment of a small bog. They cannot live in rivers, big lakes or even farm ponds. Hence, the only effective conservation approach is to protect the distinctive wetlands they require. Long-term droughts create an additional problem when natural bogs dry up.

Another threat to bog turtles, and to wildlife of many kinds throughout the world, is population loss through the illegal pet trade, an inexcusable activity. Once a poacher has removed a dozen or more adult bog turtles from a small, isolated habitat, the turtle population may be doomed. The illegal sale of wildlife is an insidious profession that will only be curtailed when state and federal governments make — and enforce — strict laws prohibiting the removal and sale of native wildlife. Individuals who violate such laws should be regarded as malevolent criminals, receive attention-getting prison terms and be fined impressively large sums of money.

The flattened musk turtle is also on the federal Endangered Species List, being officially listed as threatened. Although only the runner-up for smallest, they hold a different record: having the smallest geographic range of any U.S. turtle. They occur only in clear streams in the Black Warrior River drainage in central Alabama. The species has severely declined in numbers since its discovery in the 1950s. Coal mining operations have been implicated in habitat degradation to the river and streams.

Environmental threats to and steady declines of large, impressive mammals like rhinoceroses, tigers and polar bears are frequently in the news, along with pleas to save them and their habitats. We should also pay attention to diminutive yet equally charismatic creatures like bog turtles and flattened musk turtles. They too face environmental threats from which they would not be able to recover. Every wildlife species is unique. Regardless of their size, we will have only ourselves to blame as they are swept into the downward spiral toward extinction.

Whit Gibbons, professor emeritus of ecology, University of Georgia, grew up in Tuscaloosa. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Send environmental questions to ecoviews@gmail.com.