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Wildlife Expert: Dumped Pet Turtles Wreak Havoc on NYC Ponds

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By: Veronica Kordmany

An invasive species of abandoned pet turtles is making its way back into society by invading New York City’s many parks. The population of red-eared sliders has been spotted in Central Park and at Harlem’s Morningside Pond, where they’ve been snapping up leftover scraps of food, and hogging the turf from native turtles.

While it may seem absurd, and even humorous, to some, officials say there may be cause for alarm. Experts such as Allen Salzberg of the nonprofit New York Turtle and Tortoise Society, say the turtles could be potentially exposing visitors to salmonella. Salzberg also said that the turtles were dumped in ponds across the city by their irresponsible pet owners.

Red-eared slider turtles are originally from the Gulf of Mexico, and are the most popular turtle in the American pet trade industry. Their name comes from the red marks on the sides of their ears, which bear a resemblance to ears. The International Union for Conservation of Nature labeled them as “among the world’s hundred worst invasive species”

According to the New York Post, more than 52 million red-eared sliders were legally exported from the United States between 1989 and 1997, many of them to China. The expulsion from the native land was initially documented by National Geographic, which first reported New York’s turtle invasion. However, those are just the official numbers. There are undocumented turtles also being sold on the black market via the Internet, as well as private transactions via street vendors.

On Sunday Feb. 23, city officials were called upon to aid in the city-wide effort to rescue the turtles, before they caused any more harm to themselves or others.

“Someone should be controlling this,” said Mark Zouiyen of the Upper East Side. “There’s an ecosystem here and you can’t disrupt it.” Another park visitor, who was walking through with his two basset hounds, couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the turtles scattered all over the place. “It’s a strange thing. It’s like the iguanas in Florida — they’ve taken over.”

The Parks Department asked for visitors to refrain from dumping unwanted pets in the park, citing this incident as an example of how dangerous the situation can become if not handled soon enough.

Allen agreed, saying that the mentality is, “I don’t have to feel guilty, I’ll put them in the wild”, but made it clear that “but unfortunately there’s no such thing as wild pond in Central Park”.

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