Box Turtle Conservation

  • Author:
    n/a
  • Send To:
    Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
  • Sponsored By:
    Box Turtle Partnership of Texas
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Box turtles are charming and likeable reptiles that play a valuable role in nature. We believe that commercially collecting and selling box turtles is not sustainable and should be prohibited. Box turtles reproduce themselves slowly and only a few make it to adulthood. Those who do survive to adulthood must be allowed to stay where they are and lay many clutches of eggs over the course of decades in order for the population to survive. If the number of box turtles drops too low because of overcollection (or other factors), the population dies out.

For these reasons,
1. we must not only protect their habitat, we must also limit collection
2. we cannot wait until they are in big trouble before we act, because if we wait that long, it is too late

We ask the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and/or the Texas Legislature to take steps to protect the box turtles that are found naturally in Texas. These are: the ornate box turtle (Terrapene ornata ornata), the desert box turtle (Terrapene ornata luteola) and the 3-toed box turtle (Terrapene carolina triunguis). We ask that:
1. The commercial collection and sale of wild box turtles, or parts of box turtles, be prohibited in Texas
2. The collection or keeping of wild box turtles in Texas for personal use be allowed, limited to two individuals per species without a permit
3. A permitting process should allow for the keeping of more than two box turtles, the captive breeding of box turtles and sale of juvenile captive-bred box turtles with a carapace length under four inches (for educational or scientific purposes).

625 Signatures

  • Michael Smith
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • James Finley
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Tim Cole
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Kelli Hammack
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Adam Dawson
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Ryan edward Alden
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • Privately collecting a few animals is, I believe acceptable and sustainable. The wholesale collection of native box turtles is un-sustainable and is why I am joining this petition to put laws in place to slow, or end this practice.
  • Tracy A Brown
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • GREG HOLLAND
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • TEXAS
  • Earl H. Turner
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • TEXAS
    • Comments
    • ACT AND PROTECT------IF THE COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION OF THESE CHELONIANS CONTINUES----ANOTHER EPITAPH ON A TOMESTONE WILL READ----NO ONE CARED1111
  • J. Whitfield Gibbons
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • South Carolina
  • Nick Jackson
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Kristin Harris
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • FL
  • Deborah Sydney
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Michelle Sydney
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Stephen Campbell
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • This is a group of animals that cannot be allowed to be depleted to dangerously low populations before something is done about their decline. Action must be taken now and I am in full support of this petition.
  • Richard M. Murdock
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • California
    • Comments
    • Conservation of the worlds wildlife is essential and should never be exploited for any reason.
  • Liza Zaino
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Massachussetts
  • Dan Cameron
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Massachussetts
  • Amy Fengler
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • California
  • Diana Sankey
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • California
  • Brian L. Miller
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • Its about time someone looks at this problem. I am proud to lend my name to such a worthy cause.
  • Terry Hibbitts
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • It is time to stop commerical exploitation of box turtles across the nation.
  • Judith Olds
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Illinois
  • Nik Lane
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • David Jones
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Penny Barnes
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Canada, Manitoba
  • Stan Grumbeck
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Kathleen Summitt
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • North Carolina
  • Mark Powell
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • VT
  • Robin A. Hershey
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Ohio
  • Julie Biggs
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • California
    • Comments
    • I am Honored to support this cause and my baby girl (a 3 toed box turtle) is too. And if anyone is thinking about siging this petition, PLEASE DO SO! WE NEED ALL THE HELP WE CAN POSSIBLY GET!!!
  • Patricia McLaughlin
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • It would be greatly appreciated if box-turtle harveting from the wild could be made illegal in the state of Texas. Lowered populations of box turtles due to unchecked harvesting by profit-motivated persons only take away from the natural beauty of this state.
  • Patrick Mears
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • I am a Texan and I do not want my state's box turtle population to be destroyed. Most probably die in captivity and that is a waste. A simple law or penalty against collectors would make harvesters think twice before stealing these gentle creatures from our natural areas. Thank you.
  • Paul C. McLaughlin
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • Please take steps to preserve Texas' natural wildlife! This is the legislative mandate of your agency.
  • Brian Ingbretson
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Minnesota
  • Nelda Estes
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • Please help us guard the little ones
  • Jennifer Thompson
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Janessa
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • Save the turtles!
  • Mark Pyle
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Jesse Benjamin
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • I like Turtles
  • James Harding
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Michigan
    • Comments
    • Studies on turtle biology clearly support the proposition that commercial harvest of long-lived, slow-growing species will ultimately prove unsustainable.
  • James Whisenant
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Crissy Miller
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
    • Comments
    • With the resources of this great country, there is no reason to ever let any animal go the way of the Dodo ever again.
  • P Webster
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Tx
  • Ronald Anthony Simmons Jr
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • victor e.sumney
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • ohio
    • Comments
    • we have a problem here with are box turtles also.
  • Anita Peddicord
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • JAMES R. DIXON
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • TEXAS, BRYAN,. 77802
  • Virginia Hightower
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Texas
  • Kira Varszegi
    • Your state of residence (such as "Texas")
    • Connecticut