Learn about the McCord’s Box Turtle in this Bitesize Bonus Episode of the Sedgwick County ZooCast.<\/p>\n\n\n
VIGNETTE (00:00)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A man stands in his office, and before him sits a box. The box is in no way ornate. It\u2019s unremarkable; sterile and plain. But the contents of the box, that\u2019s another matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The box has traveled far- more than 8 thousand miles from Hong Kong all the way to Fairfax, Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The contents were purchased in markets and from locals of the southwest Guangxi Province. It\u2019s an area that shares a border with Vietnam. It\u2019s a mountainous region, with freshwater streams and shallow wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Upon opening the box, the contents are revealed to be twelve turtles. They all have narrow heads and are yellow-green in color. These turtles are small, and can easily fit in the palm of one\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The year is 1988, and Dr. Carl H. Ernst is about to make a fascinating discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n INTRO (00:59)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hello, and welcome to the Sedgwick County ZooCast Bitesize Bonus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m your host, Emily Bishop, and in this mini episode we\u2019ll give you the Zoo Scoop on how SCZ is working to increase the population of the McCord\u2019s Box Turtle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE HISTORY OF THE MCCORD’S BOX TURTLE (01:23)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n While I hope you\u2019ll forgive my, rather apocryphal story this episode beings with, I have always had a flair for the dramatic- the basic facts are true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1988, Doctor Carl H. Ernst published the paper \u201cCuora McCordi, A New Chinese Box Turtle from Guangxi Province.\u201d This is the first documented mention of these turtles in a western publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And it is true that Ernst\u2019s description in his paper were based on observations of 12 specimen delivered by Oscar Shui, a Hong Kong based turtle dealer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you picture someone \u201cdiscovering\u201d a new species, you probably picture someone dressed head to toe in khaki, exploring a distant land, forging through the quote unquote “unexplored wilderness.” It conjures images of Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands, or Van Pelt from \u201cJumanji.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t picture a new species being noted in the same year “Die Hard” was released in theaters and Capcom released \u201cStreet Fighter.\u201d But it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, while Ernst might have scientifically \u201cdiscovered\u201d and named this turtle, people knew about its existence for decades prior. There are stories from local villagers of the Guangxi Province about throwing these turtles at water buffaloes due to the turtles sometimes being more abundant than stones. Allegedly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But by the time our story begins in 1988, the McCord\u2019s Box Turtle had seen a severe decrease in population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the late 20th<\/sup> century, exotic pet sales boomed, and the international turtle trade reached Guangxi Province in the late 70s. These turtles were caught both for use in traditional Chinese Medicine, for food, and for sale in pet trade. Pollution and habitat destruction have also contributed to the decrease in the McCord\u2019s Turtle population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2000, The IUCN Red List marked the McCord\u2019s Box Turtle as Critically Endangered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until the early 2000s that these turtles were documented in the wild. A 2007 expedition for these turtles discovered them in slow moving, shallow streams. Local residents told researchers that the turtles would often hide beneath bamboo foliage, or under bamboo roots, making them difficult to spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the turtle\u2019s scarcity in the wild was noted not just by researchers, but locals as well. In a 2007 interview, a man claimed that in the 90s, he could sell a turtle for around $5. But at the time of the interview, he would be offered around $2,000 per turtle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MCCORD’S BOX TURTLE CONSERVATION (03:56)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You might be wondering how the turtle\u2019s population has changed over the years since that initial expedition. Well, they\u2019re presumed extinct. No McCord\u2019s Box Turtles have been observed in the wild since 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They only exist in captive breeding programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which brings us to the Sedgwick County Zoo, which is home to two adult McCord\u2019s Box Turtles, who in summer 2023, successfully produced a single offspring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n McCord\u2019s Box Turtles can lay clutches of one to six eggs. Our female laid a single egg, and after 90 days of incubation, it successfully hatched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve ever visited SCZ and gone through the amphibians and reptiles building, you might be thinking to yourself, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen the McCord\u2019s Box Turtle.\u201d And you\u2019d be right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our McCord\u2019s box Turtles are actually not on exhibit. They\u2019re kept in a behind the scenes facility. There are hundreds more animals that call Sedgwick County Zoo home than just the ones you see when you visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re wondering why that is, there are a couple reasons. One is simply space. We don\u2019t have the space to allow all of our animals to be available for human viewing. And if we did, it would take you days to visit the Zoo and see them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But just because an animal isn\u2019t on exhibit one day doesn\u2019t mean it won\u2019t be in the future. We often rotate our animals on and off exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another reason is, like with our McCord\u2019s Box Turtles- conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we\u2019re trying to successfully breed our animals, we often take them off exhibit. This way they can be more closely monitored by zookeepers, and have a little privacy as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the first time Sedgwick County Zoo has bred McCord\u2019s Box Turtles. Prior to now, we didn\u2019t have a breeding recommendation from the Species Survival Plan. This program manages the population of endangered animals across Zoos that are accredited with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By successfully breeding McCord\u2019s Box Turtles, SCZ is helping to ensure future generations are able see and learn about these turtles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LEARN ABOUT WILD LIGHTS (05:56)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what\u2019s new at zoo with the McCord\u2019s Box Turtle breeding program. But keep listening after a brief message about upcoming Zoo events to learn about where this turtle gets its name from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Follow the white rabbit to a land of wonder at this year’s Wild Lights<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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