Endangered turtles released into Lake Champlain

NORTH HERO, Vt. (AP) - Vermont Fish and Wildlife has released 20 baby spiny softshell turtles into Lake Champlain.

It’s part of a 10-year program in which Fish and Wildlife captures baby turtles in the fall, keeps them safe during the winter, and releases them again in the summer.

Steve Parren tells WPTZ-TV (https://bit.ly/2s3sX4U ) that the goal is let the baby turtles grow a bit bigger in captivity to give them a better chance of survival in the lake.

Spiny softshell turtles are common in North America, but not in Lake Champlain. Fish and Wildlife estimates there are only a couple hundred of them. The state considers them to be a threatened a species. They’re also listed as threatened in Canada.

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Information from: WPTZ-TV, https://www.thechamplainchannel.com