Menita Prasad knows that turtles do not “cute, fluffy mammal” to the public.
Director of Animal Care at Greater Vancouver Zoo says that the endangered western painted turtles of British Columbia are worth special care.
The zoo is part of a decade long project to revive the fate of the province’s only native freshwater turtle.
“How can’t you love a turtle?” Prasad said, describing the “beautiful, bright-red plastron” of the Western painted turtle, under its shell.
Langley, zoo in BC, is in half the way through the project to assemble and prevent the eggs of the western painted turtle in the wild, when they increase the possibility of survival when released.
Prasad said it has been a bumper year for the zoo, which releases more than 550 turtles, more than double the annual average. But to save the species, it has to go a long way.
The 10 -year project began in 2019, although Prasad said that the zoo was releasing turtles before that and around 3,000 of them had been freed in the last decade.
She said that she would not reveal the exact release sites. “Believe it or not, people will take these animals to eat,” Prasad said.
The turtle is listed as an endangered species by the federal government and is red-listed in the BC, meaning that they face the most risk of extinction in the province.
In addition to predators, both humans and natural, turtles face competing from aggressive red-ears, a turtle species that is large, more spreading, and popular in pet business.
“When people do not want pets (red-ears sliders), they have released them in our lakes and ponds that have western painted turtles,” Prasad said, “Unfortunately, because red-ears sliders are slightly more abundant, they are essentially crossing the western painted turtles.”
The recovery operation is a joint program with the coastal painted turtle project and the BC government.
Teen turtles are released when they weigh about 50 grams, about the same weight as two double-a batteries.
Prasad said that it is enough for aggressive predators including Largemouth Bass and Bulfrog to make them difficult to eat – when they hatch, the turtles are only about the size of a tony, said Prasad said.
He said that the purpose of this project is to “reach a little additional promotion in life at difficult time, when they would be victims normally.”
A project manager for the coastal painted turtle project is working with Amy Mitchell zoo.
A report written by Mitchell says that the project aims to recover 10 turtle population and “consistently fulfill its objectives.”
But it says that work needs to be continued.
The report stated, “Due to prolonged nature of Western painted turtles and their slow fertility rate it will make more effort to ensure self -sufficient, healthy population with viability to remain in the future.”
Prasad said that people need to be conscious of turtles and their nests on freshwater beaches.
He said that turtles have a series of personalities, and some seem reluctant to leave to leave.
“You put them in water, or you put them on the edge, and they move a little around. It’s not a quick dash to run and hide,” he said.
“They really look around and examine their area, go for a little swimming, and then come back to you, and just to see, ‘Oh, what are you doing? Is it okay for me to go out like this?” And then they go. ,
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 17 July 2025.
Nono Shane, Canadian Press
