The Oakland Zoo and the Western Pond Turtle Head Start Program
Comparing a Head Started turtle to one that hibernated in the wild.Alright, I am going to say the "C" word: these little guys are cute! As an environmental professional, I know this is a word I am not supposed to use, but it is impossible not to.
Barely bigger than a quarter, the baby Western Pond Turtles were drawing a cooing crowd of Oakland Zoo staff in their new, but temporary, home in the back room of the Bug House. Here, our animal management staff will happily feed and care for them until they grow big enough to fend for themselves back in their home in Lake County.
Nicholas Geist of Sonoma State University began a study of these natives when he feared that global warming would affect their future. As the sex of baby turtles is determined by temperature, he was curious if future high temperatures would cause only one future sex. In his exploration of the issue, he found these turtles to have some other serious current environmental challenges.
To begin with, development near turtle habitat intrudes upon food availability and nesting sites for females, as they lay their eggs away from the water on the land nearby. American Bullfrogs, a non-native, predate upon the hatchlings, and Red Eared Slider Turtles, also a non-native, compete for basking space and food. These turtles are commonly sold at pet stores without proper instructions and subsequently released by owners thinking they are doing the right thing. They grow twice the size and are more assertive than the Western Pond Turtles, and pretty much take over.