By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Some may be surprised to learn the alligator snapping turtle has not been spotted in Kansas since 1991. The large turtles often referred to as alligator snappers are probably just common snapping turtles that can weigh up to 45 pounds. Trevor Starks, aquatic species recovery coordinator with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, explains the difference.
"Common snappers will have a little bit of definition to their shells, but an alligator snapping turtle will have much larger raised ridges on their shell or their plastron," he said. "Alligator snapping turtles get much larger. Their beaks are a lot more defined, so they'll have much more of an overhang on the beak on their face."
The best identifier between the two species is the number of scutes, or scales, around the top of the shell. A common snapping turtle will have one row compared to two for alligator snappers.
With no alligator snappers in Kansas in more than 30 years, KDWP is now working to reintroduce the species back into the state. The turtles could once be spotted along the Neosho and Verdigris Rivers near Emporia, but overhunting and dams along Kansas rivers led to their extinction within state boundaries. The reintegration process will focus on those same locations near Emporia.
"They've done a lot of these reintroduction stockings in Oklahoma up to the border," Starks said. "Because of the dams that are on rivers now that didn't used to be there when alligator snappers were here, they aren't really able to continually move upstream."
KDWP is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Tishomingo, Okla., which started the breeding program for the turtles. Once released in Kansas, the alligator snappers will be monitored.
"Part of this project is partnering with Missouri State University," Starks said. "There's a researcher there that has a lot of experience with reptiles, specifically alligator snappers. They will be tagging those turtles, so they will have an acoustic tag and a radio telemeter tag so they can track them on land and in water. At least for the first two years of the project after the release, they're going to be doing some tracking to see where those turtles move, if they survive, and how fast they grow."
Male alligator snappers can grow to more than 200 pounds. Life expectancy in the wild is estimated at 11-45 years, though the turtles may live closer to 70 years in captivity. Part of the reintroduction project is creating sustainable populations, so the first group of alligator snappers released in Kansas will be 6-9 years old, and the next batch will be 4-5 years old.
"They don't get sexually mature until age 12-15," said Starks. "I've seen some estimates say 16-17 years, so it is a long-term investment. The whole hope of releasing larger individuals instead of hatchlings is their survival is a lot better. Once you get those turtles in the water, they habituate, and you just have to give them some time until they become sexually mature. This is the first step in a long process of trying to get the species reestablished in the state."
Starks said there are some historical records of alligator snappers in the Arkansas River watershed but those were likely individual animals that wandered there, not breeding populations. There are no plans to reintroduce alligator snappers in the Arkansas River watershed, but other projects could stretch into the Golden Belt.
"The recovery program works with several species," Starks said. "Actually, the alligator snapping turtle is the only aquatic reptile. The other 20 species we work with are fish and mussel species. There are a handful of fish species that have since gone extinct in the Arkansas River that we're really hoping to try to bring back to Kansas and get re-established again. Maybe not turtles, but maybe (the Barton County area) will be getting some fish. We'll probably be focusing on the lower parts of the watershed where there's a little more water, but you never know. Some of these minnows we deal with can travel really long distances. You might put them close to Wichita and they might end up in Great Bend if you get some water."
The first alligator snapping turtles are expected to be reintroduced in Kansas later this fall.