0Wood Turtle
The Wood Turtle...a species to protect!
The Wood Turtle is listed as endangered and is protected under the Federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). Its habitat is restricted to streams and rivers in forested areas of northern North America. In Canada, it is only found in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The shell of this turtle, measuring 18 to 23 cm has scales whose growth rings are well marked. The age of a turtle can be counted much like the age of a tree thanks to the growth rings.
Why is this turtle threatened? Click on the video to find out!
Many projects and initiatives to preserve the habitats of the Wood Turtle and to raise awareness of its precarious status are underway around the world. Locally, the Société d’aménagement de la rivière Madawaska (SARM) have been leading research projects and efforts to protect the Wood Turtle habitat since 2008. In the picture is a biologist, working for SARM at the time proudly showing a Wood Turtle.
QUIZ! According to you, to get earthworms out of the ground, the Wood Turtle mimics:
There is so much to learn about the Wood Turtle and plenty of great websites to browse. Here is the one for Space for Life at the Montreal Biodome: