Background

We all know the famous fable about the tortoise and the hare. The tortoise persevered in the great race against the hare, and in the end, the tortoise won. Tortoises  and turtles are notorious for their slow moving nature, and recently, scientists and researchers have been studying the movement ecology patterns of these reptiles. The Galapagos giant tortoise and the St. Louis box turtle are currently being studied in terms of their migratory patterns, and to see if there are any similarities between the giant tortoises of the exotic Galapagos islands and the urban St. Louis box turtles. Both the giant tortoise and the box turtle seem to be facing obstacles in their environments, either due to human expansion, or introduced species and predators. Whatever the reason may be, it is important to work towards the conservation of these reptiles and to learn more about them.

The St. Louis Box Turtle Project is an ongoing research project that was started by the St. Louis Zoo in 2012. The purpose of the project is to track box turtles and to study environmental factors that may be affecting the health of the turtles. Researchers hope to understand how these environmental factors are affecting both box turtles and humans.
To learn more about the St. Louis Box Turtle Project, follow this link to the St. Louis Zoo's website:
St. Louis Zoo Conservation

Figure 1: A box turtle currently being studied as a part of the St. Louis Box Turtle Project.
Image from: http://www.stlzoo.org/conservation/institute-for-conservation-medicine/box-turtle-project/

The Galapagos Tortoise Project, or the Galapagos Tortoise Movement Ecology Program, began in 2009 and actually set the stage for the St. Louis Box Turtle Project. Dr. Stephen Blake of the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and adjunct researcher at the St. Louis Zoo began research on the movement ecology of the Galapagos giant tortoise to determine how the changing environment of the Galapagos is affecting the migration patterns of the Galapagos giant tortoise. Researchers use tracking devices on the tortoises to track and to determine their migratory patterns, and the same types of trackers are being used in the St. Louis Box Turtle Project. To learn more about the Galapagos Movement Ecology Program, follow this link:
Galapagos Conservation

Figure 2: Dr. Stephen Blake and a Galapagos giant tortoise that is being tracked as a part of the Galapagos Movement Ecology Program
Image from: http://galapagosconservation.org.uk/projects/galapagos-tortoise-movement-ecology-programme/

This blog, Turtles in Turmoil, will explore the purposes and the progress of both the St. Louis Box Turtle Project and the Galapagos Movement Ecology Program, as well as determine if there are any similarities between the movement ecology patterns of the St. Louis box turtle and the Galapagos giant tortoise.