Audubon Aquarium Gives Rare Turtles Head Start

Small, colorful turtles only found in just one place in the U.S. are now spending the winter at Audubon Aquarium. The tiny Ringed Map Turtles are only found in the Pearl and Bogue Falaya Rivers running through Louisiana and Mississippi and are a threatened species. They are named for the yellow rings on their shells. They are sometimes referred to as “sawback turtles” because they have ridges along the top of their shells.

Audubon Aquarium is partnering with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to collect tiny hatchlings found along Pearl River sandbars and give the small turtles a home over the winter months. This headstart program is the largest effort of its kind for this species and gives the hatchlings a safe place to grow larger before they are returned to the Pearl River.

Nine Ringed Map Turtle hatchlings can be seen in Audubon Aquarium’s ‘Down the Bayou’ exhibit, the only place in Louisiana where they can be observed up close.

In the wild, LDWF protects nests with predator-exclusion boxes placed over sandbars where females lay their eggs. Field teams often find hatchlings that have not yet emerged from their sandy nests or made it to the river. Now they have a safe place for the winter and will be returned to the Pearl River when they are larger.

These turtles are considered a threated species because they often fall victim to predators like raccoons and birds. They also face habitat loss, pollution, and river dredging in their native Pearl and Bogue Falaya Rivers.