Reptile Awareness Day 2022
What is a reptile? Reptiles are typically, but not always, classified as animals that have scaly skin and lay soft-shelled eggs on land. These include tortoises, crocodiles, alligators, lizards, snakes, and turtles. Reptiles have a backbone, at least one lung, and they’re cold-blooded which means they rely on their environment to keep warm.
Why are they important? Species in this class play an important role in the food webs of crucial ecosystems by including many predator and prey animals. Herbivore species such as tortoises and iguanas help spread seeds, while some other species even help pollinate plants. A species of gecko on the island of Mauritius is the last pollinator left for a rare and declining plant, the beautiful trochetia. Alligators are considered a keystone species in many American ecosystems because of the holes they dig in rivers. When these ecosystems go into the dry season the holes remain which provide shelter for a lot of fish and turtle species. Without alligators these ecosystems would lose species, and also see an increase in other species and pull the entire system out of balance.
Locally, western painted turtles provide crucial support and ecosystem balance to our wetlands. Unfortunately, they are being pushed out of the wetlands by pollution, climate change, and habitat fragmentation, as well as an increase in loss by road incidents. Young reptiles are often left unprotected by their parents, and with many predators around, few survive into adulthood. Wildlife Preservation Canada is ‘headstarting’ this species to give them a better chance at survival, and bring them out of their endangered status. ‘Headstarting’ is a term used to describe the conservation process of raising young in a safe location and releasing them to the wild when they’ve grown and gotten stronger.
Reptile conservation and awareness is critical to ensure that all species can thrive and survive. Awareness helps to lift the many fears people have surrounding reptiles, and also many misconceptions about popular species. To learn more and support many different, local reptile species, check out Wildlife Preservation Canada at https://wildlifepreservation.ca/
