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Health assessment of captive raised and wild diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys Terrapin Terrapin): A preliminary study.

Article Excerpt
ABSTRACT: In recent years there has been growing concern over the possibility of disease transmission when captive raised or rehabilitated animals are released into a wild population. For over a decade, Richard Stockton College has been raising and releasing diamondback terrapins into New Jersey marshes to help replace losses that occur due to motor vehicle trauma. This preliminary study looked at various health parameters in both captive raised and wild terrapins to screen for any obvious diseases that might be present in either cohort. Both populations seemed to be relatively free of parasites or overt disease. The conclusion was that the release of captive raised turtles did not appear to be a health threat to the native terrapins, nor are the wild turtles an obvious source of disease for the released hatchlings.

KEY WORDS: Diamondback terrapin, health assessment, repopulation

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the problem of rising infectious disease in wildlife has been noted by several authors (Real, 1991; Haebler, 1992; Viggers et al., 1993; Woodford, 1993; Cunningham, 1996; Baskin, 2000; Daszak et al., 2000). Of particular concern is the possible introduction of disease into a wild population through the release of captive raised or rehabilitated specimens. In response to the decline of many species, programs have been initiated to help restore native populations. Unfortunately the health status of both the released and native animals is usually unknown and has largely been neglected in reintroduction programs (Viggers et al., 1993; Jacobson, 1999). Not only does this create the potential to introduce new disease into a susceptible wild cohort, it opens up the possibility of newly released specimens succumbing to disease from the existing population.

Over a decade ago Richard Stockton College of New Jersey (RSC) developed an ongoing program to help maintain the diamondback terrapin population in Cape May County, New Jersey. This unique salt marsh terrapin is found along the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Texas. Motor vehicles traveling through the salt marshes of Cape May County annually kill hundreds of terrapins as they cross causeways trying to reach a nesting site. Harvesting the eggs from fatally injured diamondbacks and raising them at RSC has provided a source of new turtles each year and has presumably helped to maintain the existing population. The 9-12 month old hatchlings are released back into the marshes from which their mothers emerged the previous summer (Wood and Herlands, 1993).

This study was undertaken to survey the health status of both the captive raised terrapins and their wild counterparts. Any problems found in one population but not the other would be...