2023-Sep-28
GBB Rescued Over 1,500 Turtle Eggs This Season
The Georgian Bay Biosphere’s (GBB) 
incubation program preserved 1,728 eggs this year to help boost Ontario’s at-risk turtle populations. Turtle nests are generally laid in soil that is easy to dig and provides proper moisture which makes roadside sand and gravel and appealing place to nest. GBB staff working with roadside construction crews to rescue vulnerable roadside turtle eggs which are then incubated at GBB’s facility and released back to the roadside wetlands where they were collected. This turtle incubation program has collected approximately 9,000 vulnerable eggs from Blanding’s, Snapping, Painted, and Map Turtles over the last four years.
All of the eight turtle species in Ontario are currently listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by COSSARO (Committee on Status of Species at Risk in Ontario) making this stewardship work especially important to their survival. Less than one in a hundred turtle eggs will hatch and grow to adulthood and road mortality is a major threat to turtles in Ontario.