Concerned about the decline in the snapping turtle population, staff at the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne have been taking “spe-shell” care of turtles and their eggs.
“There’s certain places that have turtles that people see most years, and people notice when turtles are gone,” said Kayla Sunday, environment program manager at the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne (MCA).
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada assessed snapping turtles as “special concern” in 2008, and the species was listed as special concern under the federal Species at Risk Act in 2011.
Sunday said although it’s difficult to monitor the population in Akwesasne, habitat loss and degradation as
