Folks just need to contact the Texas’ wildlife crime-stoppers program, Operation Game Thief at (800) 792-GAME (4263)
Texas has an alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) poaching problem, so much so that the state’s Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has doubled the reward for tips that lead to convictions of poachers. The reward is now $2,000. Folks just need to contact the Texas’ wildlife crime-stoppers program, Operation Game Thief at (800) 792-GAME (4263). The freshwater turtle is threatened in the state and in Texas, it is against the law to take these reptiles from the wild.
Overharvesting for the meat trade has led to severe population declines of the alligator snapping turtle. Photo by Gabbie Berry/Shutterstock
“The high survivorship and long lives of adults makes populations of alligator snapping turtles very sensitive to the removal of even a small number of breeding adults,” said Paul Crump, TPWD Herpetologist. “That is why Texas prohibited collection of this species back in the ’80s and why we need the help of Texans who work and spend time on the rivers in East Texas to reduce poaching. We want to keep this species around to help maintain our healthy rivers and streams.”
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Thanks to $11.6 million in funds raised from the TPWD Conservation License Plate Program, the department has doubled the reward, which is usually pegged at $1,000.
“OGT is proud to be part of a concerted effort, along with the TPWD Wildlife Division and the Conservation License Plate Program, to give at-risk species the spotlight they deserve in return for the value they hold to Texas, its citizens and visitors,” Assistant Commander of Wildlife Enforcement Stormy King said in a statement released to the media. “With funds provided by this effort, we were recently able to match a $1,000 OGT reward and deliver $2,000 to an anonymous caller who helped convict a turtle poacher. Hopefully, word gets out.”
Alligator Snapping Turtle Information
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest turtle in North America and the largest freshwater turtle in the world. They are known for their powerful jaw and glacially slow movements. They are found in river and drainage systems of the Gulf Coast region of the United States and feed on fish, dead animal matter and small mammals such as muskrats. Researchers in 2014 announced that there were three distinct species of alligator snapping turtle in North America: the Suwannee alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys suwanniensis), found only in the Suwannee River that courses through Florida and Georgia; and the Apalachicola alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys apalachicolae), which inhabits the Apalachicola River in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. The third species is still called (Macrochelys temminckii).
