Overview
Get to Know Buddy!
Bog turtles like Buddy are often mistaken for baby turtles because of their small size, but Buddy is a fully grown adult bog turtle. Along with their size, bog turtles can be best identified by the vivid yellow patch on their necks. If you’re looking for a closer look, there are large detailed bog turtle statues found in the Maryland Wilderness.
Where to Find Me
Buddy is likely the easiest turtle to spot in the Maryland Wilderness. In her habitat in the Meadow, she most often rests in the left side of the pool. If you look closely at the habitat wall, you’ll see that this side of the habitat has a hidden door that zookeepers use to access the habitat space for daily care. By being this close to the door, Buddy is quick to eat at meal time! Occasionally, when Buddy is harder to see, she is either partially or fully buried in the moss on land.
Special Care
Bog turtles are omnivorous, meaning they will eat both plant-based and animal-based food. Buddy eats produce and a variety of small animals, from small crickets to smelt, a fish that may be longer than Buddy. She will typically eat the fish partially, and you may spot some leftovers in the water that she may revisit over the day. No matter the food item, Buddy is very quick to move to the meal as soon as it is offered.
Conservation Status
Critically Endangered
This status means that the population of bog turtles living in their native range is facing an extremely high risk of extinction and requires urgent ongoing conservation efforts.
Bog turtles rely on very saturated, muddy and undisturbed wetland habitats to thrive in their native ranges. This has created challenges for this species as wetlands have often been drained and repurposed for human needs such as farming and development. Today, Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and other conservation-minded organizations ask landowners to preserve wetlands to sustain these habitats, and members of these organizations will routinely inspect Maryland wetland zones to confirm the presence and wellbeing of bog turtle populations.
How you can help
If you find yourself traveling through a wetland habitat, it is best to follow paths and leave the land undisturbed to protect the future of these turtles and other animals that thrive in shared spaces.
How the Zoo is helping
The Maryland Zoo works alongside Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources to inspect habitats known to historically have bog turtles living in them. Additionally, the Maryland Zoo has taken in injured bog turtles to provide medical care and eventual release. One such bog turtle in 2017 laid eggs while in zoo care, and zookeepers successfully raised and relocated the offspring to a local native habitat.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Testudines
- Family: Emydidae
- Genera: Glyptemys
- Species: muhlenbergii