A Record Number of Turtle Nests Under the Care of Zoo Experts
In Quebec, turtles are among the most threatened groups of vertebrates.
Of the province's eight native species, seven are listed as at risk or of special concern. Every year, from May through July, the Zoo's conservation experts dedicate hundreds of hours to preparing and maintaining nesting sites, monitoring turtles, protecting nests, and carefully collecting eggs for laboratory incubation.
This year, a record number of turtle nests are under the care of our dedicated conservation team.
Several hundred eggs incubating!
At Zoo de Granby, conservation efforts are focused on three native species in particular: the Eastern spiny softshell turtle, the wood turtle, and the northern map turtle.
During the 2026 season, more than 50 nests are being incubated at the Zoo’s Lab Nature, safe from predators and the unpredictability of nature :
- 31 northern map turtle nests
- 19 Eastern spiny softshell turtle nests
- arounds 10 wood turtle nests from three different regions of Montérégie and Eastern Township.
This approach significantly increases hatching success and gives more hatchlings a better chance of surviving to adulthood once they are released back into the wild.
Habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, increased nest predation, human activities, and climate change all place considerable pressure on turtle populations, which recover very slowly.
Because turtles may take more than a decade to reach sexual maturity and only a small number of hatchlings survive to adulthood, every individual matters.
Protecting turtles also means preserving the wetlands they depend on, ecosystems that support an extraordinary diversity of wildlife.
Nest Protection: A Key Action!
In addition to laboratory incubation, Zoo biologists also protect a number of nests located outside flood-prone areas.
Wire mesh placed over buried nests helps prevent predators, such as raccoons and striped skunks, from digging up and eating the eggs. This also allows biologists to compare the hatching success of eggs protected in the wild with those incubated at the Nature Lab.
The results help our scientists continuously refine their conservation practices and identify the most effective strategies for safeguarding these vulnerable species.
Under carefully controlled temperature and humidity conditions, several hundred turtle eggs are currently developing in our laboratory.
By late July or early August, the first hatchlings are expected to emerge, ready to be released back into their natural habitat with an improved chance of reaching adulthood. Even with this head start, however, their journey remains a difficult one: it is estimated that only one out of every 100 hatchlings survive to sexual maturity.
This highlights the importance of the patient, meticulous work carried out by our biologists, who strive to maximize hatching success and give these remarkable and invaluable animals the best possible chance to thrive in Quebec's natural ecosystems.
A Spiny Softshell Turtle Cap!
The Fondation Mission Faune Foundation of the Zoo de Granby and Headster Kids have teamed up to create a cap featuring the Spiny Softshell Turtle (SST), a species that has been at the heart of the Zoo’s conservation and research efforts for nearly a decade.
A portion of the proceeds from cap sales will be donated to the Fondation Mission Faune to support biodiversity conservation, research, and education initiatives.
