Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Just wanted to see what the general consensus was on the issue of taking animals from the wild. More specifically, you see a lot of people who feel that they are rescuing animals that they find in areas where there is a lot of residential or industrial development. I’m not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, but I’m just wondering how the rest of you feel. For myself, I no longer take animals in no matter what the situation. I feel that permanently removing any animal from the wild damages population viability to some extent. I have read the studies on survival rates of transplanted animals, but I feel even if the animal only has a slim chance of making it, at least there is a small chance it can reproduce and bolster the numbers of wild animals. In captivity, that same animal is as good as dead to the breeding pool.

With the incredible pressures that wildlife faces today, I think it’s best to take a hands off policy, no matter how slim that animals hopes seem if left alone, or if absolutely necessary, moved to a new location and released. There is enough of a supply of captive bred animals out there to support the serious pet market. True, they may cost more, but that is a good thing in my mind as it means they will more likely be properly cared for.

So, at least in my opinion, there is never a good reason to permanently remove an animal from the wild.

I have 2 that were dog chewed & would be dead if I hadn't kept them. If they're dead to the breeding population now, at least they aren't actually dead as they would be had I not taken them.

I have 2 others that were found but obviously had been someone else's captive before I got them. I am guilty of taking one moments before he was torn up by a dog. We've known him for years, long before he was found in the mouth of a dog. Inside our fence is part of his regular territory.
People all of a sudden started building new houses all around us, we didn't want to see him end up like the others so we kept him here. He's apparently not unhappy, we've left him alone to be who he is yet he'll stalk me for food if he's hungry.
This one I took today was trapped in a pile of water heaters for I don't know how long. He needs help right now for dehydration. It's 100 degrees outside this minute & since he was handed to me, I can't do anything other than give him help.

Would I go out & hunt for box turtles so that I could take them out of the wild to be my pets or to sell them? No I wouldn't do that.
Sometimes things happen & I can't leave them to die. I do the same for other species, my vet has a ground squirrel I picked up 2 weeks ago after it was hit by a car. I found him on a college campus where the speed limit is 25, someone hit more than likely him on purpose.
But when he's ready I'll take him back to the same area and release him.

If I can help an animal that needs help I'll do it.
People might criticize me for it but it won't stop me from doing what I do.

Chip is alive & doing well now, I think that's better than being dead.

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PHRatz

>> someone hit more than likely him on purpose.

more than likely someone hit him on purpose.
yeesh.
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PHRatz

Why not release this one back into the wild? It seems to be healthy aside from needing a drink. Wouldn't it be better for it to at least try and contribute to the wild population?

>>Why not release this one back into the wild? It seems to be healthy aside from needing a drink. Wouldn't it be better for it to at least try and contribute to the wild population?

Are you asking me about the one that was trapped between 2 water heaters? He'll be breeding soon.
My vet has him now, I didn't want to keep him because I agree with you, he should be out there breeding as long as he checks out ok. She'll make sure that he is ok before he's sent outside. Because we don't know how long he was trapped I think it's a real good idea for a doctor to check him out to make sure that he's fine before he's set free.
We have no idea where he came from, he can't be released on the home improvement store parking lot so more than likely he'll be released onto some of her private land. She owns several acres out in the country where they can roam free.. way more room than we have on our acre where only half of it's fenced. So more than likely he'll end up still wild, able to breed, but basically protected.
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PHRatz

That's great, glad to hear it.

>>That's great, glad to hear it.

I'm with you on this I don't like keeping them if there's no good reason to do it. Then I realized later that I wasn't very clear on that.
My neighbor named him Whirlpool but I failed to mention that she names all the wild animals that hang around here on the regular basis too. We don't keep them captive but they have names....and people think I'M the crazy lady in the neighborhood with the giant tortoise! LOL

I'm confident that this turtle really did just need a few drinks of water & that the vet will have him released sometime this weekend.
My vet is a wonderful person, this is what she does on her own time & on her own dime. People bring her turtles often, she fixes them if they need it then if they can't be released they stay with her. Whatever is going on with one she'll find the best solution for it.
He is beautiful so I hope he makes a lot of babies that look like him.
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PHRatz