Invasive snapping turtles are worrying local wildlife officials

Invasive snapping turtles are worrying local wildlife officials

 

Darrell Bellaart, The Star

Published: Friday, July 13, 2012

The appearance of two snapping turtles on Vancouver Island is a worrisome trend for wildlife officials concerned about keeping introduced species out of the environment.

A turtle weighing approximately three kilograms was recently captured in Port Alberni, then early this week a nine-kilogram female was found in Metchosin.

The turtles are more aggressive and have a more angular appearance than box turtles, their distant Vancouver Island relatives.


B.C. wildlife officers say they're not suitable pets so they will be kept at the North Island Wildlife Recovery centre until a permanent home can be found for them.

He compared them to bullfrogs, which were introduced to the Island by humans but are now replacing native species like red-legged tree frogs.

"The strange thing, when you're dealing with intrusive species, it's always people bringing them here on purpose.

"It's like (Scotch) broom, grey squirrels or the eastern cottontail rabbits. They had no rabbits on this Island up until a few years ago. And the grey squirrel, somebody thought it would be so cute to look at but they're meateaters so a lot of our young songbirds' eggs and their babies, they're constantly raiding their nests."

Sean Pendergast, a wildlife biologist with B.C. Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations, said on average, one or two snappers appear somewhere in B.C.
"This is pretty unique, to see two in a week," Pendergast said.

"And there's a lot of these introduced, non-native species that cause problems for wildlife."

Although snappers can endure substantially cold winters in eastern Canada, Pendergast said they wouldn't likely survive long on the West Coast.

"The climate is just not quite right," he said.

"Although they can survive here for quite a while, my understanding is they are not able to have young."

dbellaart@nanaimodailynews.com

© Harbour City Star 2012

Source:
Invasive snapping turtles are worrying local wildlife officials

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