60 more alligator snapping turtles are coming to Kansas, here's when
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas wildlife specialists are gearing up to drop off another batch of alligator snapping turtles in a local river early next month.
27 News reached out to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) this week to learn more about its next scheduled release of the big turtles. KDWP Wildlife Diversity Coordinator Daren Riedle said the agency is preparing to drop off another 60 alligator snapping turtles sometime on May 8-9, depending on local weather and water conditions.
"We are currently coordinating with the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery for the delivery of 60, 5-year-old Alligator Snapping Turtles," Riedle said. "These turtles will be about 5-6 inches in shell length, hopefully big enough to avoid predation by larger fish and other predators such as herons and raccoons."
Riedle said KDWP staff will put the turtles in the waters of the Neosho River between St. Paul and Parsons. He said the KDWP is working with local landowners to make the reintroduction of this species into the area go smoothly.
"The Alligator Snapping Turtle is an imperiled species and Kansas is playing an integral part in its recovery by returning it back to the wild," Riedle said. "We are returning an important component that plays many roles (scavenger, predator, prey seed disperser) of the Neosho River Basin back to its former range in the wild. Alligator Snapping Turtles are not only part of the ecology of Kansas, but part of its natural heritage."
Alligator snapping turtles disappeared from the Sunflower State in the early 1990's. However, that all changed in 2024 when the KDWP dropped off 40 of the turtles in Kansas as part of an effort to bring the species back to its former territories in the state.
Riedle said this will be the final release of alligator snapping turtles for the foreseeable future as the KDWP wants to observe how they interact with the environment. The KDWP and other partners will monitor the progress of the turtles using radio tags in the days ahead.
"We want to monitor these individuals to see how they grow and survive over time," Riedle said. "If this population does well over the next couple of years, we will begin to consider additional release sites."
Alligator snapping turtles were once common in the Verdigris and Neosho Rivers in Kansas but, by 1991, were largely missing from the state. Kansas represents the northwesternmost reach of the turtles’ original home range with the majority being found in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Missouri, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). You can learn more about the alligator snapping turtle recovery program in Kansas by clicking here.
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