SCCF's Florida Box Turtle Project began in 2002 to assess Florida Box Turtle populations on Sanibel and Captiva, as well as to discover their habitat preferences, diet, reproductive activity, and home range.
By adopting a Florida Box Turtle, you will be assisting with the cost of radio transmitters, weather-monitoring tools, PIT tags, scanners, measuring calibers, scales, digital cameras, and fuel costs, along with other materials needed to accomplish our research goals.
Due to their long life spans (50-70 years) and relatively small home ranges, Florida Box Turtles are an ideal species for long-term studies, allowing SCCF to collect over 20 years of data for conservation management plans. This data proved to be extremely valuable when in August 2019, SCCF, FWC, and USFWS released nearly 300 box turtles from a turtle poaching ring in Fort Myers. Among these poached box turtles were individuals from SCCF’s project, identified from their markings. These marked turtles were returned exactly back to where they were poached, thanks to the data collected from this project.
The development of natural habitats and the illegal collection of turtles for the international pet trade pose serious threats to the future survival of this species. All SCCF research turtles have internal microchips, notched shells, and are thoroughly photographed for identification purposes. This three-way identifying method also acts as a deterrent to poaching.
