Red-eared Sliders
Where do the turtles in Turtle Pond and other Central Park bodies of water come from? I had always thought that the Red-eared Sliders that are so plentiful in Turtle Pond came from families that had purchased them as pets but could not deal with the turtles when they grew to a certain size.
This may be partially true. According to American Tortoise Rescue, "During the 1970s, millions of tiny baby turtles were sold throughout the United States as pets. By the mid-70s, a quarter of a million children and infants were diagnosed as having turtle-associated Salmonella. In 1975, the Food & Drug Administration, in an effort to stop the problem, prohibited the sale of any turtles under four inches in length. This law still stands but is poorly enforced ... throughout the country, tiny turtles called red-eared sliders are being sold by vendors on street corners, in shopping malls, in front of museums and even at pet stores. Typically ranging in price from $2 to $10, turtles imported from Mexico and harvested from Louisiana are often infected with Salmonella."
So the turtles in Turtle Pond are illegal immigrants.
But according to licensed rehabilitator and turtle expert Lori Cramer, the biggest source of non-native turtles in Central Park are Buddhist ceremonies in which worshippers will acquire turtles destined for the pot in Chinatown, sometimes a dozen at a time, and recite blessings before releasing them into the park.
All I know is that June is egg-laying season and the area around Turtle Pond is host to scores of turtle egg mounds. One any given day I have seen two or three Red-eared sliders slowly making their way to dry land or in the process of digging holes or laying eggs. I have also seen and photographed Red-eared sliders in the Meer, the Loch, Azalea Pond, Central Park Lake, and the Pool.
Tourists are fascinated by the turtles as evidenced by these two photographers who spen
