(Des Moines, IA) -- Researchers at Iowa State University have been monitoring more than 50 Blandings turtle hatchlings at the Des Moines Blank Park Zoo. Populations of this type of turtle have been declining for decades, according to ISU Professor Stephen Dinsmore, Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management. He says researchers have been able to locate 26 female Blandings turtles and were able to induce egg laying at the zoo. The eggs were successfully incubated and eventually the turtles will be released into the wild.
The turtles are not on display at the zoo, but there is an education program planned for this Sunday, November 17th from 1-2 p.m.
Blandings turtles can live to b e 50 years old, and grow up to 8-10 inches in diameter. They prefer small ponds and wetlands. Professor Dinsmore says the the loss of habitat as well as predators such as raccoons may be factors in the dropping populations.