OUTREACH
(These activities have been postponed during the pandemic;
we look forward to resuming them when it is safe to do so.)
For the past three years, the RGTTC has participated in Camp Humane, a summertime program of Animal Humane New Mexico headquartered in Albuquerque. Campers learn about the behavior and care of cats, dogs, rabbits, and turtle pets. Here RGTTC member Barbara Carey is teaching campers how to prepare a nutritious meal for box turtles. Campers also design a table-top model of a wonderful back-yard habitat for a box turtle.
Spring means its time for the ABQ Home & Garden Show at the Fairgrounds in Albuquerque. The RGTTC has been participating for years in the show, sharing information with the public on turtle care, diet, and habitat design. It also serves as an opportunity for the club to find new homes for turtles in foster care.
The RGTTC played a major role in helping to fund the first captive breeding program for the endangered Coahuilan Box Turtle in Mexico. The species, which is endemic to Mexico, is the only semi-aquatic Terrapene. The breeding program, which got underway in December, 2019, is being spearheaded by the Turtle Conservancy in conjunction with the University of Juarez in the State of Durango.
Every year the RGTTC creates a display for the Cherry Hills Public Library. This month long-display focuses on the dietary and habitat requirements of species of turtles and tortoises commonly kept as pets.
%20(1)_JP.jpg)
The RGTTC co-sponsored Sara Valenzuela, a graduate student at the University of Juarez in the State of Durango, to present a paper on the status of the endangered Coahuilan Box Turtle at the May 2019 Box Turtle Conservation Workshop (Haw River State Park, North Carolina). An abstract of her paper and of the other presenters is available at www.boxturtleconservation.org.
New Mexico Natural History Museum staffer and RGTTC member, Asher Lichtig, received funds from the club in 2019 to build a runway to examine the tracks made by different living species of turtles and tortoises.. The goal is to better understand how turtle morphology and weight affect the tracks they leave, and thus serve as a tool to better understand fossil turtles that are known only known from their tracks (called "trace fossils").