Vulnerable turtles
Wait, what? World Turtle Day is today, May 23m 2026?! Yes, indeed it is, and it's giving us irresistible incentive to break what's been a far too long pause in our activity on this wonderful platform. As it happens, our feature today comes from an exhibit about biodiversity loss that we opened at our lobby earlier this spring (more info on that here for anyone interested): We give you, the bog turtle, a.k.a Glyptemys muhlenbergii, a species native to several states in the Eastern U.S., including New York State.
Bog turtle (Glyptemys muhlenbergii). Illustrated by Richard F. Deckert. In H. L. Babcock, The Turtles of New England (Boston, Mass., 1919). Plate 28. Note: the bog turtle's scientific name reflects its first identification as a unique species in the late 18th century by Pennsylvania clergyman and botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg.
Measuring at just about palm-sized (5 inches), the bog turtle is the smallest of all turtle species in North America. Sadly, this winsome creature is critically endangered. Bog turtles need sunny marshes to thrive. When those landscapes transition to forest with natural succession, bog turtles must move to areas that are still open marsh to survive. But human settlement, farmland conversion, urbanization, and beaver eradication have shrunk and fragmented the expansive wild wetlands once common in the Northeast. As open fens have become scarcer, so have bog turtles. In 1997 G. muhlenbergii was listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, making it eligible for targeted conservation policy and action. Assessment data of 2025 has prompted the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to declare the bog turtle now critically endangered. In New York, one of the last remaining G. muhlenbergii populations lives in a protected Finger Lakes bog, not that far from Cornell University's campus. As for many other reptile and amphibian species of our world, for this species to thrive once more, effective habitat restoration efforts will be key.
As challenging as that might sound, it behooves us to remember we've seen some success stories in turtle conservation in recent decades. The case of the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is among them.
Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas). In J.F. Brandt and J.T.C. Ratzeburg, Medizinische Zoologie, vol. 1 (Berlin, 1829). Plate 22. Note: "Chelonia esculenta" is an obsolete name for the green sea turtle that reflects the reason for intense historical human interest in this species: “esculenta" is Latin for "edible."
Ranging widely across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, green sea turtles were once one of the most abundant marine megafauna on our planet. Yet, exposed to some of the most extreme pressures that humans have brought to bear on the animal world—from intense levels of hunting for their meat and eggs to widespread destruction of their coastal nesting sites and a high incidence of bycatch ensnarement in the global fishing industry—regional populations of C. mydas crashed dramatically for much of the 20th century.
Fortunately, the story has gotten better. In their highly visible plight, green sea turtles became a cause célèbre in the 20th century international conservation movement. As it galvanized attention and concern around the world, effective action followed: successfully enforced legal protections, remarkable community-based efforts to preserve nesting habitat, and consistent international cooperation. Data gathered over recent years suggest a clear turnaround in the green turtle’s fate. The global population of C. mydas has rebounded by almost 30% since the 1970s, and in many places of their range their numbers appear stable and poised to grow.
The case of the green turtle gives hope for the preservation of the bog turtle and other vulnerable reptiles of our world as well. Library collections are here to provide enchanting views of these lovelies between the pages of our old books. And World Turtle Day is here to remind us to do the work to make sure we keep these treasures part of our living environment as well. Happy turtle holiday, friends. We celebrate with you.