Box Turtle

True Wild Life | Box Turtle | The box turtle or box tortoise is a genus of turtle native to North America. Box turtles are land dwelling creatures with high, domed shells, hence the "box" moniker.  Box turtles are found all over the world, and are generally found living in mossy areas of the forest, or other damp habitats.  They are very territorial, and sometimes spend their entire lives near their place of birth.

North American box turtles are omnivores with a very varied diet as box turtles "basically eat anything it can catch". Invertebrates (amongst others insects, earth worms, millipedes) form the principal component, but the diet also consists for a large part (reports range from 30-90%) of vegetation. The diet is amended with fruits (amongst others from cacti, apples and several species of berry), gastropods. While reports exist that during their first five to six years, box turtles are primarily carnivorous, while adults are mostly herbivorous, there is no scientific basis for such a difference. They are strong, sturdy animals, and usually grow to be about 6 inches long.  Box turtles are usually dark in coloring with some yellowish markings, and the male of the species have bright red eyes, longer tails, and their plastrons are indented.

Box turtles are endemic to North America. The widest distributed species is the common box turtle which is found in the United States (subspecies carolina, major, bauri, triunguis; South-Central, Eastern and South Eastern parts) and Mexico (subspecies yukatana and mexicana; Yucatán peninsula and North Eastern parts). The Ornate box turtle is endemic to the south-central and South Western parts of the U.S.  while the spotted box turtle is endemic to North-Western Mexico only. The coahuilan box turtle is only found in Cuatro Ciénegas Basin.

Yellow-margined Box Turtle

True Wild Life | Yellow-margined Box Turtle | The Chinese box turtle is a species of Asian box turtle with several names. Its common names include Chinese box turtle, 食蛇龜 Snake-eating turtle, Yellow-margined box turtle, and Golden-headed turtle. Taxonomically, it has been called Cistoclemmys flavomarginata, Cuora flavomarginata, and Cyclemys flavomarginata. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System uses Cuora flavomarginata.

Yellow-margined Box Turtle has a highly domed shell, the carapace and plastron of which are a dark brown, excepting a cream-yellow stripe on the vertebral keel. The edge of the plastron is lightly pigmented due to the marginal scutes' and plastral scutes' lighter pigmentation near their edges. The skin on the limbs is brown in color while the top of the head is a pale green. Each side of the head has a yellow line extending from behind the eye backward. The skin beneath the head and between the limbs is a lighter pink-ish color.

The name box turtle refers to C. flavomarginata's ability to bring the plastron to the edges of the carapace. This is enabled by a hinge on the plastron and ligaments connecting the carapace and plastron, which allows for limited movement. The forefeet have five claws, while the rear have four.

The external difference between male and female Yellow-margined Box Turtle is slight. Males have a broader tail than females; it is almost triangular in shape.

Painted Batagur

True Wild Life | Painted Batagur | The Painted Batagur is the largest turtle living in fresh water. They are in danger of extinction because people take them as pets or to eat, and because of the deteriorating environments in and around the rivers they live in. Painted Batagurs live on the Malaysian peninsula, Sumatra Island, and Kalimantan Island.

Painted Batagurs live in rivers and sometimes go near the ocean where the seawater mixes with the fresh water. They also lay eggs in sandy beaches like Green Turtles. Young Painted Batagurs eat other animals and plants. Once they become adults, their diet changes to mainly leaves and other plants.

The number of Painted Batagurs is declining because people capture them to eat, in addition to river water pollution and deteriorating surrounding environments. In Thailand, where the Painted Batagur is on the brink of extinction, there are strict restrictions against their capture, sale, or purchase. Additionally, there are efforts to increase their number by breeding. Although there are international restrictions against the sale and purchase of Painted Batagurs, there are still many efforts that need to be made to recover their numbers, such as making river environments safe for living in.

Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle

True Wild Life | Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle | The Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle or Ryukyu leaf turtle, Geoemyda japonica, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae (formerly Bataguridae). It is endemic to the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. In 1975 the species was designated a National Natural Monument of Japan. It grows to approximately 5–6 inches long. In captivity it feeds on worms, snails, insects, and fruit. Due to its rarity and very attractive appearance, this species is highly coveted by turtle collectors worldwide.

The Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtle  has a flattish brown, chestnut, mahogany or tan carapace that is serrated front and rear, with three keels. The plastron is black or dark brown with yellow or yellow-cream rings. The skin of the Black-breasted Leaf Turtle is dark with colored spots or mottles, and females have a yellowish-cream stripe down each side of the head. Its feet are only semi-webbed, and it has large bulging eyes with white irises.

At first it was considered a subspecies of Geoemyda spengleri, and named Geoemyda spengleri japonica. It was redescribed as a separate species and given its current binomial name in 1992.

Snapping Turtle

True Wild Life | Snapping Turtle | Snapping turtles are large aquatic freshwater reptiles that only live in North America. There are only two species of snapping turtle that still exist, which are the Common Snapping Turtle and the Alligator Snapping Turtle. The Common Snapping Turtle tends to live at higher latitudes than the Alligator. Snapping turtles enjoy a wide variety of food and are often considered the top predator in their environment. The alligator snapping turtle's diet consists mainly of fish, which they lure using a pink worm-like appendage on the end of their tongue. Common snapping turtles are more active hunters and will eat just about anything.

Snapping turtles do not make good pets, usually, as they will never stop growing. The largest snapping turtles on record have weight records of around 600 lbs. Alligator snapping turtles have been known to grow even larger. The Snapping turtle's main defence mechanism is their powerful snapping jaws, which enable them to make short work of attackers and small prey. They also have monstrous, thick claws on their front and back legs which they use to tear apart food and to climb hills each year where they lay their eggs (in a similar way to sea turtles).

The alligator snapping turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America, where it is generally found in the more southern waters of the United States. The smaller and more aggressive common snapping turtle inhabits lakes and streams from South America to Canada. Snapping turtles spend nearly all of their lives in water, with typically only nesting females actually venturing onto open land. Snapping turtles can remain submerged underwater for up to three hours at a time.

Alligator snapping turtles and common snapping turtles have a very different looking appearances. The alligator snapping turtle has a long head and almost spiky shell, where the common snapping turtle has a more rounded head and a smoother shell. They are also easily distinguished by size as the common snapping turtle is smaller than the alligator snapping turtle.

Snapping turtle mating takes place once a year generally in the spring time. The female snapping turtle can lay anywhere from 10 to 50 eggs which take 3 or 4 months to hatch. It is thought that snapping turtles are capable of living until they are 150 years old but they typically live until they are between 20 and 50 years old in captivity.

Sea Turtle

True Wild Life | Sea Turtle | Sea turtles are found in all of the major oceans and smaller seas with the exception of the Arctic Circle as it is generally too cold for sea turtles as they tend to prefer more temperate waters. The bigger species of sea turtle are found more in the Southern Hemisphere in the tropical, warmer waters.

There are 7 known species of sea turtle today including the flatback sea turtle which is native to Australia; the green sea turtle which is found all over the world but there are larger populations of the green sea turtle in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; the hawksbill turtle is a critically endangered species of sea turtle and can be found all over the world; the kemps ridley turtle is the rarest species of sea turtle in the world and is found in the Atlantic ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico; the leatherback sea turtle is the largest species of sea turtle and is the most widely distributed species of sea turtle, found all over the world; the loggerhead sea turtle is known for it's large head and is mainly found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans; the olive ridley sea turtle is the smallest species of sea turtle and is generally found in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

Although sea turtles spend their time out at sea, sea turtles always go back to the same beach to breed and often travel huge distances to get there. The female sea turtles bury their eggs in the sand on the beach where they were born. After laying her eggs the female sea turtle will return to the sea, leaving her eggs to hatch in their nest under the sand. When the baby sea turtles hatch, they walk straight into the ocean and begin their life at sea. Today, all of the 7 different species of sea turtle are under threat from extinction. The decline in the world's sea turtle population is thought to be mainly due to the sea turtles being caught accidentally by large fishing boats and due to the fact that humans will often take the eggs of the sea turtle to eat as a delicacy. Numerous conversation projects are underway all over the world in order to try to protect and preserve the sea turtle populations that remain.

The diet of the sea turtle depends on it's particular species. Some species of sea turtle are carnivorous, others are herbivores and some species of sea turtle will eat almost anything. Sea turtles tend to eat sea grasses, shrimp, crabs, fish and jellyfish, depending on what the sea turtle can find and catch. Sea turtles have the remarkable ability to travel hundreds (in some cases thousands) of miles in order to get between their feeding grounds and their nesting grounds. Most female sea turtles return to the same beach to nest every time and will often emerge from the water just meters away from from where they nested the time before.

Sea turtles will often be able to breed for around 30 years with some species of sea turtle not being able to do so until they are 50 years old. Adult sea turtle have few natural predators besides large sharks and being caught up in human fishing nets meaning that they can live to more than 80 years old. Around 90% of baby sea turtles are eaten by smaller predators like raccoons, sea birds and large fish. Male and female sea turtles tend to be around the same size. Adult sea turtles vary a great deal in size depending on the species of sea turtle with the smallest sea turtles measuring around 50 cm and largest are nearly 2 m.

River Turtle

True Wild Life | River Turtle | River turtles are found inhabiting freshwater environments all around the world from slow-moving rivers and streams to the calmer waters of ponds and lakes. There are numerous different species of river turtle found around the world many of which are sadly considered to be endangered species today. The Mary River turtle is the most commonly known species of river turtle as they are the most popular freshwater turtles to keep as pets often in artificial aquariums or outside in ponds. The Mary River turtle is native to the Mary River found in Queensland, Australia and was once shipped to pet shops all over the world in the thousands as people liked them due to their small size.

The yellow-spotted river turtle is one of the largest species of river turtle found in South America. The yellow-spotted river turtle is found in the large lakes and tributaries of the Amazon Basin and are easily identified by the yellow spots (hence the name) on the side of their heads. The yellow spots of the yellow-spotted river turtle are much brighter in the younger individuals and tend to fade in brightness as the yellow-spotted river turtle matures. There are a number of river turtle species that share the name of the giant river river turtle. With the exception of the Arrau river turtle which is a flat-shelled river turtle found in the Amazon, most of these giant river turtles are indigenous to south-east Asia. The mangrove terrapin is widely distributed across the continent but is today, critically endangered due to over-hunting and pollution. The giant Asian pond turtle is one of the largest of the river turtle species and is found inhabiting rivers and streams along with marshes and rice paddies throughout Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia.

Generally, most species of river turtle have an omnivorous diet that is primarily made up of aquatic plants, grasses and leaves. Many river turtle species also hunt fish and molluscs in the water along with small reptiles and amphibians. Due to the relatively large size of the river turtle and the fact that it has a hard, protective shell, there are few animals that prey upon the river turtles themselves. Humans are the main predators of both the river turtle and it's eggs which are eaten as a royal delicacy in many of the river turtle's native regions. Other animals such as foxes. dogs, snakes, birds and even wild pigs eat the precious eggs of the river turtle that are buried in the sand.

As with other turtle and tortoise species, river turtles are fairly solitary animals but females can be seen gathering together in large groups on river banks to lay their eggs. River turtles can lay between 5 and 100 soft, leathery eggs depending on the species, which are buried in the sand by the female after she has laid them. After a couple of months, the baby river turtles hatch and make straight for the water. The average lifespan of the river turtle is about 30 years. Due to excessive hunting and rising levels of pollution in the water, river turtles are extremely vulnerable animals many of which are today considered to be endangered or critically endangered. Programmes around the world have been seen up to try and protect the river turtles mainly from poachers who hunt them for their meat and eggs.