Zoos with the rarest / most endangered freshwater turtles

Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Looks like an awesome place to have a coffee and watch endangered turtles.

Fort Worth zoo painted terrapin / gharial exhibit:

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Photo credit to @geomorph.
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My only wish for this one is that they had more tables along the glass, it's difficult to get a spot.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thanks for this @Jurek7 , went through the gallery and found some shots of Wroclaw's collection of freshwater turtles :
Zulia toad headed turtle:
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Photo credits to @lintworm , @Arek , @nikola , @ThylacineAlive , @Maguari , @m....k and @LaughingDove.
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Sadly I was later informed that neither of these turtles are the Zulia's Toadhead Turtles :( They were both reidentified as Pelusios species.

The turtle pond in Wroclaw is a bit frustrating in that they list so many species in a somewhat overstocked enclosure who may not all actually be present, which makes identification challenging.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Sadly I was later informed that neither of these turtles are the Zulia's Toadhead Turtles :( They were both reidentified as Pelusios species.

The turtle pond in Wroclaw is a bit frustrating in that they list so many species in a somewhat overstocked enclosure who may not all actually be present, which makes identification challenging.

~Thylo
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I haven't seen this turtle pond in person but I can definitely imagine that identifying what species of turtle you are seeing must be very tricky.

Not sure really if I really like the amount of species that have been mixed together in that pond as it sort of detracts from actually educating visitors about the different different species and their plight.
 
Great signage at Pittsburgh zoo, USA, on freshwater turtles with this educational "periodic table of turtles":

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Some examples of freshwater turtle species at Pittsburgh zoo:

Yellow spotted Amazon river turtle:
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Red bellied short necked turtle:
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Photo credits to @jusko88 and @geomorph , .
 
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Bronx has multiple mixed displayed with Asian turtles and sailfin lizards. They also have tegu and caiman lizard mixed with some South American turtles.

Common Box Turtle and snakes (usually either ratsnakes or rattlesnakes) is a somewhat common mix in the US.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Bronx has multiple mixed displayed with Asian turtles and sailfin lizards. They also have tegu and caiman lizard mixed with some South American turtles.

Common Box Turtle and snakes (usually either ratsnakes or rattlesnakes) is a somewhat common mix in the US.

~Thylo
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Thanks for that @ThylacineAlive !

Yes, I think I shared some pictures earlier in the thread on sailfin lizard and turtle mixes and one was of the Bronx zoo.

By the way on the subject of sailfin lizards, you've taken some excellent shots of this species that I've seen in the gallery.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Quite a beautiful enclosure for Australian freshwater turtles at the Sedgewick county zoo in the USA.

Species kept are apparently: Northern side neck turtle, fly river turtle, northern red faced turtle, painted side neck turtle.

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This enclosure has been converted into an "American riverbank" display now, housing Spotted Turtle, Yellow-Blotched Map Turtle, Pascagoula Map Turtle, and Eastern River Cooter.

~Thylo
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
So they changed it to a native freshwater turtle exhibit ?

Thats interesting, do you know why they did this ?
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Absolutely no idea. To be fair, though, some of those native species are (particularly the map turtles) are more endangered and rarer in captivity than the Australian species they replaced. The Fly River Turtles and snake-necked turtles are still present at the zoo in the tropics building.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
This enclosure has been converted into an "American riverbank" display now, housing Spotted Turtle, Yellow-Blotched Map Turtle, Pascagoula Map Turtle, and Eastern River Cooter.

~Thylo
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Actually the Spotted Turtle is in a different exhibit (shared with Bog Turtle). In addition the American Riverbank habitat included Razorback Musk Turtles and a Gulf Coast Spiny Softshell Turtle as well as native fish.
 
I found the post with the sailfin mixes while skimming through but I didn't see Bronx listed there. The current sailfin lizard/turtle mixes are as follows (for interest's sake):
-Weber's Sailfin Lizard/Roti Island Snake-Necked Turtle/Indian Roofed Turtle (JungleWorld)
-Weber's Sailfin Lizard/Giant Snake-Necked Turtle/Red-Bellied Short-Necked Turtle/Mary River Turtle (World of Reptiles)
-Philippine Sailfin Lizard/Painted River Terrapin/Bornean Pond Turtle/Mary River Turtle (World of Reptiles)

Their South American display features Guianan Caiman Lizard/Red Tegu/Arrau River Turtle/Red-Headed Amazon River Turtle/Big-Headed Amazon River Turtle

I saw that @nczoofan included a partial list of Bronx's turtles. Below is the list I know of:
1. Matamata
2. Roti Island Snake-Necked Turtle
3. Giant Snake-Necked Turtle
4. Mary River Turtle
5. Red-Bellied Short-Necked Turtle
6. Yellow-Bellied Mud Turtle
7. East African Black Mud Turtle
8. Big-Headed Amazon River Turtle
9. Red-Headed Amazon River Turtle
10. Arrau River Turtle
11. Alligator Snapping Turtle
12. Spotted Turtle
13. Bog Turtle
14. Eastern Box Turtle
15. Painted Turtle
16. Red-Eared Slider
17. Asian Brown Tortoise (nominate)
18. Forsten's Tortosie
19. Middle Eastern Spur-Thighed Tortoise
20. Egyptian Tortoise
21. Pancake Tortoise
22. African Spurred Tortoise
23. Yellow-Footed Tortoise
24. Volcan Darwin Giant Tortoise
25. Red-Footed Tortoise
26. Home's Hinge-Backed Tortoise
27. Leopard Tortoise
28. Aldabra Giant Tortoise
29. Common Spider Tortoise (nominate)
30. Southern Spider Tortoise (ssp. oblonga)
31. Flat-Backed Spider Tortoise
32. Radiated Tortoise
33. Painted River Terrapin
34. Red-Crowned Roofed Terrapin
35. Yellow-Headed Box Turtle
36. Bourret's Box Turtle
37. Chinese Box Turtle
38. Indochinese Box Turtle
39. McCord's Box Turtle
40. Pan's Box Turtle
41. Golden Coin Turtle
42. Spotted Pond Turtle
43. Yellow-Headed Temple Turtle
44. Sulawesi Forest Turtle
45. Vietnamese Pond Turtle
46. Cochin Black Turtle (ssp. coronata)
47. Bornean Pond Turtle
48. Indian Roofed Turtle
49. four-eyed turtle (I'm not entirely sure if it is actually Beale's or Chinese)
50. Painted Wood Turtle
51. Chinese Big-Headed Turtle
52. Fly River Turtle
53. Florida Softshell Turtle

As a side note, it turns out Bronx has not held Northern River Terrapin in a long time and the animal I photographed has been reidentified as a really odd looking female Painted River Terrapin.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
Absolutely no idea. To be fair, though, some of those native species are (particularly the map turtles) are more endangered and rarer in captivity than the Australian species they replaced. The Fly River Turtles and snake-necked turtles are still present at the zoo in the tropics building.

~Thylo
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So it could be an effort to emphasize the plight and necessity of conservation of native freshwater turtles maybe.
 
To complement zoos, here is an effort of the private keepers to make studbooks for rare turtles and other reptiles (thanks to the German zoo forum):
Annual reports | European Studbook Foundation

I still think that, with number of turtles kept, amount of skills in reptile keeping, and possibility to specialize in one or few species, which many zoos are unwilling to do, private keepers can become an important force in turtle conservation.
 
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