How To Save America's Rarest Turtle: Lower Our Expectations
Bog Turtle Wikimedia CommonsHow do we decide how rare an animal is? How do we figure out how long before it goes extinct? And how do we stop that from happening? There's a conservation-biology rule of thumb that, for a species to survive for another century, it must have a stable population of about 5,000. Want to settle Mars? Bring 4,999 other unrelated humans with you and populate it. And yet a recent study finds that the bog turtle--the rarest turtle in the continental US--could survive with only 40 members, including 15 breeding females. The study's authors want this to change how legislators protect flora and fauna. But will it be for the best? The bog turtle is North America's smallest and rarest native turtle. It's primarily found in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, though there are isolated populations in North Carolina, and estimates of its population range from...