“The most important thing to remember about turtles is not that they can live long lives - it’s that they must live very long lives!”
This quote, according to Jim Harding, both curator of the exhibit and herpetology and outreach specialist for the MSU Museum, is a good summarization of the “Turtles in Trouble” exhibit at the MSU Museum. Turtle populations are struggling, and one of the reasons is because a lot of species are not living as long as they should.
Very few of turtles’ eggs hatch, and of those that do, very few reach adulthood. Thus, it is critical for turtles who reach adulthood to live many years so that they can reproduce multiple times.
So, why aren’t turtles living desirable lifespans? In short, because of humans.
“Humans are exploiting turtles at a rate far higher than they can reproduce,” said Harding. “This is especially true today in Asia. However, it is also true in South America, Africa and even in North America. Quite a few of our species are declining because of habitat loss, mortality on the roads and exploitation.”
The United States has enacted legal methods of containing the turtle exploitation. There are also organizations, like the Turtle Conservancy, that are working with developing nations to try and find ways to help conserve turtles. These efforts, along with exhibitions like “Turtles in Trouble” that alert the general public to this reptilian plight, will hopefully help halt, or at least stall, the future extinctions of other turtle species.