PROTECTING ENDANGERED SPECIES

The Greater Vancouver Zoo, along with Wildlife Preservation Canada (WPC) and other local and national partners, are working to protect species at risk, with some BC natives being the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly, Oregon Spotted Frog, and iconic Western Painted Turtle. These three conservation projects at the Greater Vancouver Zoo are led by Biologist Andrea Gielens (WPC) and Deputy GM & Director of Animal Care Menita Prasad (GVZ).

Proud recipients of the:

The Threats

Habitat loss due to human development has limited their viable habitats drastically. What is left is continually affected by human interactions such as pollution, erosion, and habitat fragmentation.

Road traffic is a significant threat for females searching for nesting sites as a result of the fragmentation of their habitats.

Red-eared sliders, as well as other non-native species, are inappropriately released into the Western Painted Turtle’s habitats and introduce pathogens, outcompete them for resources, and can decrease genetic stability through hybridization.

How You Can Help

  • Never release a pet into the wild. Invasive pets, like Red-eared sliders, look very similar to western painted turtles but are one of the biggest threats to their safety.
  • Keep an eye out for turtles crossing the road! Females risk a lot to find suitable nesting grounds and may cross the street to find them.
  • Get in touch with local conservation groups and volunteer your services for these beautiful species

What We Do

Captive Breeding

By using a mix of wild-caught and captive born butterflies we create a population to inhabit the habitats we work to restore.

Every year the populations are tracked and assessed to ensure that an appropriate amount of genetic variation is present to ensure a healthy and genetically divers population.

Head-Starting

Head-starting is when animals are reared until they are deemed old enough to survive in the wild and then released into their protected habitats. By helping them through their most vulnerable life stage the more mature animals have a much better chance of surviving.

Protecting Nests

While conducting population and habitat surveys the nests that are found are marked, tracked, and monitored. If a nest is under imminent threat, such as a high likelihood of flooding or human disturbance, then they may be relocated or hand-reared for head-starting. If the nest is relatively safe, then they will be noted and monitored throughout the season to ensure they have the best odds of survival.


Restoration Recap


2024

New hatchlings, new releases

With 150 new hatchlings this year, and the amazing growth of the hatchlings we have seen in recent years, several releases have already occurred for appropriately sized individuals with more to come!

2023

Hundreds of released turtles

Over more than a decade of work, hundreds of turtles have been released from the head start program, increasing their chances of reaching adult hood drastically. In 2023 alone more than 200 hatchlings were released back into their native habitats.

Record setting growth

Innovations prevailed and using little more than some tweaks to the husbandry program, the young hatchlings are able to grow to safe release sizes consistently and comfortably. Groundbreaking techniques were also developed in the face of the cryptosporidium parasite and these techniques are now available to help other turtle conservation programs around the world.

With the young turtles not needing to hibernate thanks to their warm upbringing, they are also able to continue growing all winter and reach a safe size to avoid predation potentially years ahead of their wild born counterparts.

Dozens of newly nesting turtles

There is no feeling more satisfying to a conservation team than to confirm that the animals you released are living successfully in the wild. With each new release there a few more turtles that are nesting and reproducing, meaning that there is confirmation that the methods are working and the effort is worthwhile.

This year there was an increase from 2022's 7 nests to 36 nests laid by females headstarted in past years!

The Plan Moving Forward

Over the next 5-10 years the plan is to increase monitoring in release sites, increase the range of the head start program up the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, and gather further engagement from local communities

In 10-20 years the hope is to have 20 sustainable wild populations established and to step back to monitoring without the need for further supplemental releases.