Ornate Box Turtle - Conservation Efforts

Conservation Efforts

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the ornate box turtle is "near threatened." In some states, such as Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado, the turtle is "secure"; but in South Dakota, it is listed as “imperiled”; and in Wyoming it is listed as "critically imperiled." Management decisions for the ornate box turtle are difficult because of life history factors. It seems that the best strategies will be aimed at older females to increase their survival instead of concentrating on hatchlings and juvenile turtles. One of the first things that needs to be done is to get a better idea of the actual number of ornate box turtles that exist and also to make it illegal to collect any for pet or commercial trade, as some states did. Along with this is the need to stop the release of captive box turtles that have respiratory infections into the wild because of the effect of disease on survival. Management techniques that preserve the best habitat composition are important conservation practices.

Probably the biggest factor that affects the ornate box turtle is interactions with human so any action that minimizes contact is helpful. Working to keep large areas of habitat undisturbed is also helpful. Managing weeds with a minimal amount of herbicide and knowing what chemicals are in the herbicide and how they affect turtles is important. The use of fire and mowing to control weeds should be done carefully when turtles are inactive or in burrows to keep cool. The public is not likely to want to stop collecting turtles, even if the pet trade were prohibited, because people like to look at turtles and other forms of nature. Nebraska and Louisiana have prohibited collecting ornate box turtles, but New Mexico and Texas have not.

Educating the public about the risks to the ornate box turtle will be difficult but should be part of the conservation effort. One conservation effort that might be helpful is removal of predators from an area where many turtles are found; one study found that removing raccoons was helpful but it also leads to the question of balance in nature and which animals are more important. Some biologists have suggested that moving turtles from healthy populations to areas where the turtle is struggling might be an option but this is difficult and might be a last resort.

Habitat loss is the biggest problem for the ornate box turtle and isolated habitat areas have isolated groups of turtles that lose genetic diversity and experience bottlenecks that decrease their survival.

Because the ornate box turtle has a long life-span and can live up to 50 to 80 years and doesn’t reproduce until late, it will be difficult to manage conservation of this turtle.