34 Blanding Turtles released in Keji

By Nick Moase

THE ADVANCE

NovaNewsNow.com

There has been a baby boom of turtles in Kejimkujik National Park and over a hundred people showed up to send them on their way.

Volunteers released 34 Blanding Turtles into the park on July 3. Last year they only released four Blanding Turtles.

“What are we celebrating today?” Dr. Flemming asked the crowd. “(We are celebrating) hope for our future with the natural world.”

Considered one of the species at risk in Kejimkujik, there are about 350 Blanding Turtles in and around the park.

It is unknown how many turtles were originally in the area.

In the first part of the 20th century, rivers were used for logging, which contributed to the decline in turtles.

Over 100 people observed the celebrations, which started with a native drumming ritual by the Red Wolf Singers. Several Dignitaries spoke including Elder Agnes Potter from the Bear River First Nations, South Shore to St. Margaret’s MP Gerald Keddy, and Dr. Stephen Flemming, an Ecosystem Scientist and a representative of Species at Risk Recovery.

It took three steps to get here, said Dr. Flemming. It took knowledge to understand the turtles, it took action to increase the population and it took Re-connection. He explained that this was a way to reconnect with nature, for us and for our grandchildren.

This is the largest turtle release ever, thanks to “head-starting”.

Eggs collected from turtle nests by park staff, researchers and volunteers are incubated at the Oaklawn Farm Zoo in Aylesford.

Turtles remain in captivity for two years after hatching. The turtles grow much faster then if they were in the wild, to about the size of a five-year-old turtle in the wild.

This keeps the turtles safe from predators until they are large enough to lessen the problem considerably.

In the wild, Blanding turtle hatchlings have a mere two to five percent chance of surviving on their own. Through head starting, this increases to 70 percent.

Each of the 34 turtles received names, continuing a tradition started in 1968. Volunteers and partners named the turtles in recognition for their work in the turtle recovery effort.

More than 250 volunteers have invested countless hours in and around Kejimkujik helping with species at risk recovery.

The turtles that were released have VHF radio-transmitters glued to their backs, so researchers can track of the turtle’s nesting preferences.