NATIONAL POST (Toronto, Ontario) 15 September 03 Turtle mother lost, but her hatchlings get chance to live (Mary Vallis)
Peterborough, Ontario: Beatrice the snapping turtle, who was likely born before the Second World War and died after a car hit her this summer, has left behind a legacy. And now it is hatching.
Beatrice was crossing a road near Hastings, Ont., in June when a motorist her struck and drove off. Another driver found her and rushed her to Peterborough Pet Hospital. Her jaw was fractured, her skull crushed and her shell cracked.
An X-ray revealed she was carrying 44 eggs. Beatrice's shell had protected them from the impact. She was on her way to her nesting site when crossing the road.
Veterinarian Dr. Joseph Muise did everything he could to save Beatrice's life. He performed complicated surgery and used orthopedic pins to reconstruct her jaw. Then she was moved to the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre, which provides life-saving medical care for turtles so they can be released back into the wild.
Almost 60 centimetres long, Beatrice was the largest and probably oldest snapping turtle ever admitted to the turtle hospital. The staff fed Beatrice through a tube and struggled to keep her comfortable, but within a few days it was clear she would not survive. She was euthanized.
"It was really, really difficult to lose Beatrice," said Dr. Kristy Hiltz, a veterinarian and director of the centre. She estimates the turtle was between 50 and 80 years old. "Considering she's been able to survive so many things for so many years, only to lose her life when she's basically in labour, was really tragic for us."
Beatrice's eggs were removed and placed in a container after her death. Volunteers at the centre -- in an old monkey house at Peterborough's Riverview Park and Zoo -- incubated them for months, keeping them warm and moist in mulch. Jezebel, a 35-year-old spider monkey, kept watch as other injured turtles came and went, and Beatrice's eggs continued to develop.
Last week, Beatrice's offspring began hatching (at least 13 so far). They are about the same size as loonies. The latest hatchlings will be released this week near where Beatrice was found.
Zoo curator Jack Sisson said the hatchlings' success is bittersweet. Even if half of Beatrice's eggs hatch, one or two will be lucky to live long enough to lay eggs themselves. (It takes snapping turtles eight to 12 years to become sexually mature.)
Snapping turtles are not endangered, but every time the species loses a matriarch and fertile egg producer such as Beatrice, they take another step in that direction, Mr. Sisson said.
"Beatrice was the grandmother of all the turtles we've seen so far," he said, cradling a tiny hatchling in his gloved hands. "We would prefer to save the females, especially like Beatrice, that are producing 40 eggs a year."
Dr. Hiltz said the birth of Beatrice's hatchlings is symbolically important. "When we saw those babies coming out it was an absolute thrill," she said. "Chances are very few, if any of them, will survive to maturity. But there's hope, and their life coming out of Beatrice's death, that indicates hope to us. There's hope maybe one of these little guys will actually make it."
Dozens of turtles are recuperating at the trauma centre. Most of them are victims of car accidents and boat propeller strikes. Jenny, a painted turtle, was rescued from the jaws of a dog that had been gnawing on it. Her breastplate was carefully wired back together.
The centre saw 25 turtles during 2002, its first year of operation, and its numbers have nearly tripled this year. About half of the turtles admitted -- many of whom belong to endangered species -- are eventually released.
The trauma centre keeps track of its injured turtles' progress at www.kawarthaturtle.org.
Turtle mother lost, but her hatchlings get chance to live