Blanding's turtles

Re-introducing Blanding's turtles to Rouge National Urban Park

Prior to 2014, as little as 7 Blanding’s turtles remained in Rouge National Urban Park (RNUP). To help increase the population of this special species, Parks Canada and the Toronto Zoo began a long-term Blanding’s turtle reintroduction project. Turtles that are part of this head start program are raised in captivity and released into the park once they are older, to minimize threats such as nest destruction and predation. Together, along with several other partners, we have released over 500 baby Blanding’s turtles into RNUP, and that number continues to increase.