Ontario seeing much higher level of turtle deaths and trauma from vehicle injuries this year..
The Turtle Trauma Centre, in the central Ontario city of Peterborough, is at maximum capacity in its efforts to save injured turtles. It’s part of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, a non-profit charity dedicated to conservation of the province’s eight species of wild turtle, seven of which are either listed as at risk or endangered.
On average about 400 turtles are helped but this year the Kawartha Lakes area Turtle Trauma Centre is overwhelmed with victims of road injury.
Responding to an RCI inquiry, the Centre says it has taken in about 624 injured animals to date. The Centre says it is already beyond maximum capacity, but will continue to take in injured turtles.
Dr. Sharon Cartairs is the executive director of the trauma centre. Quoted in the CBC, she says that most of the injuries come from being run over by cars. “Most have very severe fractures of their shell. There is a lot of head trauma too, especially in species like snapping turtles that can’t hide in their shell.”
She adds that every turtle saved is vital due to the turtle population.
“They take up to 20 years to reach maturity. So they need to live a long, long time to even have a chance of replacing themselves in the population.”
Christina Davy, a research scientist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, echoes the sentiment. Quoted by TVOntario she gives another example, “It can take over 17 years for a snapping turtle to become an adult, and then lay one clutch of eggs, and of those eggs it’s unlikely that any of those will survive to adulthood because everything eats baby turtles. So when you take an adult female out of the population it has a really, really big effect.”
It’s not understood why so many turtles are on roadways this year, but speculation is that dry summer conditions and low water levels in Ontario last year enabled more to find suitable dry egg laying areas, while the very wet spring and summer, and high water levels has them searching further away for dry nesting areas.
Although the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre can save hundreds of turtles a year, it is estimated that thousand may be killed annually on the highways in the huge province.
Turtles are also difficult to treat. Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre says, when turtles are in pain they don’t eat, and without food energy they don’t heal. That centre notes that about half the animals they try to treat do not survive.
In an email to RCI, Donnell Gasbarrini, Turtle Programs Manager at the Ontario Turtule Conservation Centres points out that after being hit by cars, the turtles they see have usually suffered very severe injuries, but says their survival rate is about 65 per cent.
Sources- additional information
- CBC: M von Stackleberg: Jul 9/17: state of emergency
- TVO: T Alamenciak: Jun 28/17: more injuries this year
- CBC: Jun 25/17: summer is deadly season for turtles
- Cottage Life: how to identify Ontario’s 8 species
- Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre
- Huron Stewardship Council: OTTC-
- CBC: Jun 25/17: deadly season for turtles
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