African Lion Safari Welcomes Baby Wood Turtles as Part of Conservation Effort

In the fall of 2025, African Lion Safari welcomed a cohort of baby wood turtles! These young turtles will spend their first two years growing and learning under professional care before being released back into the wild. 

This conservation approach, called head-starting, gives hatchlings a boost by helping them survive the most vulnerable years, when predation risk is highest.

The wood turtle is one of Canada’s rarest freshwater turtle species. Found in the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; this species is at risk of extinction and coordinated conservation efforts are needed. Our animal care specialists and research biologists have been working together to support the growth and development of these baby wood turtles until their safe release, helping to save this species from further decline. 

Wood turtles are unique in that they are the most terrestrial of Canada’s native turtles, spending a significant amount of time on land. Threats to the wild population include habitat destruction, pollution of the water systems turtles call home, predation by subsidized predators like foxes or raccoons, collisions with cars on roads, and collection to be kept or sold as pets.

Wood turtles are one of a select few species in Canada for which location information is not shared publicly. In the past, mass poaching events have caused the local extinction of entire wood turtle populations. So today, conservationists, researchers, and local guardians keep the locations of wood turtle populations private.

We are excited to have our first cohort of native turtles at African Lion Safari. We hope to continue being a collaborator on this project and educating our guests on the importance of native reptile species for years to come. Our goal is to continue working with in-situ project partners to better understand how head-starting supports wild populations.