Have you helped a turtle (or many turtles) in some way?  Perhaps you helped a turtle cross a road, brought an injured turtle to us for treatment, or volunteered at an event? Maybe you have helped put up road signage, helped with inventories and monitoring, or were involved in getting eco-passages in place?

Whatever action you took, we would like to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to fill out our short survey and tell us more about your actions. Your input will help us to measure the effect of conservation education and inspire others to follow your lead!

Thank you for helping our at-risk turtle populations!

Ontario’s reptiles and amphibians are becoming increasingly rare. In fact, three quarters (18 of 24) of Ontario’s reptile species are listed as species at risk.

One of the most important things you can do to help conserve these species is to report observations of these animals to monitoring programs such as the Ontario Turtle Tally.

The Ontario Turtle Tally was established by the Adopt-a-Pond program at the Toronto Zoo to monitor the health of turtle populations. Visit their website for information on amphibians and reptiles and their habitats, report sightings of frogs & turtles, and more!

It’s easy to tell Map Turtles & Painted Turtles apart once you know what to look for! The Map Turtle (centre) doesn’t have any red markings, and has a keel along the centre of its shell. The Painted Turtles’ shells are very smooth. These two species can often be seen side by side and the female Map Turtles are distinctly larger than the male Map Turtles or Painted Turtles of either sex.