Toronto Zoo releases 55 endangered turtles to the wild

The Toronto Zoo is celebrating its 10th year of releasing young Blanding’s turtles into Rouge National Urban Park, the zoo announced on Friday morning. Handout

The Toronto Zoo is celebrating its 10th year of releasing young Blanding’s turtles into Rouge National Urban Park, the zoo announced on Friday morning.

This year the zoo released 55 two-year-old turtles, bringing the total number of Blanding’s turtles released over the last 10 years to over 650.

According to a YouTube video uploaded by the zoo, the Rouge River Watershed, while historically a home to Blanding’s turtles, can no longer support a healthy turtle population.

"They hatched about two years ago at the Toronto Zoo, but they are more representative of about a four- to five-year-old wild turtle, so the time they spend with us really is head start," said a representative for the Toronto Zoo in the video. "It gets them over those most vulnerable life stages and also gives them a better chance of surviving in the wild."

To combat extinction of the turtles, the Toronto Zoo collects turtle eggs every June, incubates them, and keeps them in the Americas Pavilion of the zoo, where visitors can observe them. Once the turtles reach two years of age, they’re moved to an outdoor enclosure, where they can adjust to the elements before being released in the wild.

Once released, the turtles continue to be observed from afar, using radio transmitters to track the turtles’ growth and migration patterns.