Western Painted Turtles: Watching a legacy die.

Western pond turtle sunning itself on a log at the Mission Creek Park Ponds in Kelowna

It was estimated that, at one point, 40% of all the birds across North America were passenger pigeons.  There were upwards of five billion of them.  That is five thousand-million birds.  When they migrated, a cloud of them could darken the sky for several days.  Then, in the mid 1800's, they were hunted, by the millions.  They became extinct in 1914.  It took only 60 years to do.  You can read about their decline here.

Why bring up a story about passenger pigeons when I am writing about turtles?  Because in the early 1800's, no one would have thought that passenger pigeons would be gone in just over 100 years.  Yet, here we are, with so many other species, doing the exact same thing.  Removing habitat.  Building roads.  Pollution.  Allowing invasive species to compete.  And doing it all with money or popularity in mind.  And then there is global warming.

"Western painted turtle populations are stable and safe," you may say.  But you'd be wrong.  The Pacific coast population is down to around 250 individuals (click here for more information).  The interior population is better, but is listed as sensitive.  Around Kelowna, you can find them in a dozen different places.  But remember the passenger pigeon?  The current situation is but a snapshot.  Where will the population be in 100 years?  

The answer, of course, is, "It depends."  It depends on whether we understand that extinction is a very real possibility.  By the mid 1890's, people began to realize that passenger pigeons were in trouble.  It took just another 20 years before the last one died.  That's kind of where we are with so many other species.  We'll just keep doing what we do because of money, ignorance, and desire.  Then, one day, we will suddenly comprehend that the life on our planet is in trouble, and we will want to do something about it.  But, like for the passenger pigeon, it will be too late.  That's not now.  That's tomorrow.

But tomorrow will come.

Thanks for reading. 

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com