Zoo Atlanta welcomes pair of critically endangered turtle hatchlings
Bog turtle hatchlings (Zoo Atlanta).
ATLANTA - Zoo Atlanta is celebrating the hatching of two Georgia native turtles are the newest members of one of the rarest species in the United States.
The zoo announced that the pair of critically endangered bog turtles hatched on March 1 and 2, 2023.
According to zoologists, bog turtles are the smallest turtles in North America. With shells roughly the size of a quarter, the hatchlings both entered the world weighing less than half an ounce. Their fully-grown parents are similarly small at just 3.7 to 4.2 ounces.
The species is found only in the eastern United States, including northeast Georgia. The ecosystem the turtles call home – the imperiled mountain bog – is as rare as the bog turtles themselves, largely due to the same challenges faced by the turtles: habitat destruction for roads, construction for human communities, and other human-made threats.
"Zoo Atlanta is thrilled to welcome new bog turtle hatchlings. Not only is every hatch vital to the remaining population of this critically endangered species, but this news also shines an important spotlight on efforts to preserve Georgia wildlife and wild environments," said Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Vice President of Collections and Conservation. "People sometimes think of biodiversity as a feature of faraway places on other continents, when in fact our own state is a hotbed of biodiversity."
The new hatchlings are currently housed behind the scenes in the Zoo’s Georgia eXtremes building, where their parents and another adult female also reside. When they are larger, the zoo hopes that the new arrivals may join their older sibling on public view in Georgia eXtremes, which highlights animals and interpretive messaging devoted to Georgia native reptiles and amphibians.
To learn more about conservation programs and partnerships at Zoo Atlanta, visit zooatlanta.org/conservation.