Pets
Baby Blanding's Turtles Set Free In DuPage Forest Preserves
DuPage County's Blanding's turtles head-start program has helped raise and release 3,000 turtles since the mid-1990s.
DUPAGE COUNTY, IL — Nearly two dozen Blanding's turtle hatchlings have been set free in DuPage County Forest Preserves after being raised at Shedd Aquarium. The 23 tiny turtles were raised in captivity for a year to increase their chances of survival, since many Blanding's turtles are eaten by predators before they even hatch.
As part of the forest preserve's head-start program for the hatchlings, mama turtles are gathered from local wetlands before they lay eggs each spring. The eggs are incubated at a research center in Warrenville and then transferred to places like the Shedd Aquarium to live for a year after they hatch.
Blanding's Turtles Raised In Captivity Set Free In DuPage County
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More than 300 eggs were collected in spring 2019, DuPage County Forest Preserve Ecologist Dan Thompson said in a news release. Of these, roughly 238 are expected to hatch and be raised in captivity.
After the most recent batch of Blanding's turtles were released in late August, Shedd Aquarium got 24 more little hatchlings to care for.
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