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Blanding’s Turtle given induction medication to help stimulate egg-laying.
CONSERVATION Program Success Nursery nests were then dug and the females were placed
gently on top. If a female turtle moved away, she was put
The Chicago Zoological Society has back on her nest.
participated in the Blanding’s Turtle Recovery
Program for years, hoping to increase the number of turtles After several attempts, each of the six females laid eggs
in the wild. Behind the scenes at Brookfield Zoo, we’ve been in the nest provided to her. Eggs from several nests—40 in
giving baby Blanding’s turtles—brought to us by DuPage total—were brought inside to incubators. The rest of the
County Forestry Department—a head start in life by mov- eggs were left outside in their nests to let nature take its
ing them into protected areas in Dragonfly Marsh. In these course. Many of the collected eggs were not fertile, but our
protected areas, they can grow big and strong before being animal care team wasn’t discouraged; they knew the turtles’
released back into their native habitat. fertility would increase as they grew older and larger.
But it will take 10 to 15 years before the baby turtles reach
sexual maturity and start reproducing. So CZS expanded our Last summer, the team’s patience and hard work was
program to include young-adult Blanding’s turtles. Like the rewarded. In all, eight baby Blanding’s turtles hatched from
baby turtles, the young adults were wild-caught in DuPage the incubated eggs, and two more hatched in the “natural”
County. CZS crew members—with assistance from an Eagle nests—a very good start! These babies are spending the
Scout and local Blanding’s turtle experts—cleared brush, winter indoors. In the spring, they will be moved to the
graded land, and laid down tons of sand to create the perfect protected areas outdoors and then released into the wild
nesting terrain. Once the stage was set, the long wait began. in the fall.
Fast forward a few years and the turtles became old
enough to reproduce. Our animal care specialists regularly We are continuing to monitor the turtles and eggs and
monitored the turtles for gravid or pregnant females. Once look forward to more births of this endangered species.
it was confirmed that females were carrying eggs, they were
After they hatch, Blanding’s turtles are nurtured by CZS crew members and prepared for their
eventual release into the wild.
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