Illinois Turtles On Their Way Back

Hi, it’s Leslie and I’m always excited to see conservation happening, especially when it’s local.

The Shedd aquarium has been incubating eggs from Blandings Turtle, a very rare, endangered species of turtle in Illinois. If the Shedd had not incubated these eggs, they most likely would have been eaten by predators, but now the mother turtle and her 11 babies have been released into a suburban lake.

Invasive species were first removed from that particular lake and other preparations were made. Officials are not disclosing the location of the lake, in order to further protect the turtles.

The turtles will be monitored for the next several years, with the hopes that they will continue to reproduce, and eventually be taken off of the endangered species list.

What a great day for these turtles, and those of us who love them!