Endangered species in Kansas will get a second chance at life

TOPEKA (KSNT) – Wildlife biologists in Kansas are working to reintroduce a species to old exchange lands later this year.

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) is responsible for the care and protection of the state’s outdoor spaces and the animals that call the Sunflower State home. But what about a species that hasn’t been seen in Kansas in more than 30 years?

27 News spoke with Trevor Starks, aquatic species recovery coordinator with KDWP, about efforts to return the alligator snapping turtle to Kansas. A confirmed sighting of the species within state borders has not been reported since 1991 when one was found in a tributary of the Verdigris River.

According to the KDWP, these reptiles are larger than your average turtle with large heads, hooked beaks and star-shaped eyes. Their most distinctive feature is the large shell which has three rows of high ridges, giving them an intimidating alligator-like appearance. Turtles use a small worm-like appendage inside their mouth to lure fish to eat and can live to be more than 100 years old and weigh more than 200 pounds.

Common snapping turtles are more common and generally smaller than the alligator variety. The Kansas state record, set in 2006, for the common snapping turtle weighed 45 pounds.

The alligator snapping turtle is one of several native Kansas species listed with KDWP’s Aquatic Species Recovery Program. This effort aims to help 27 threatened, endangered or extinct species in Kansas regain their footing in the state.

“They [alligator snapping turtles] are one of our priority species that are on that list,” Starks said.

Turtles were once abundant in the Neosho and Verdigris rivers near the city of Emporia, but have suffered greatly due to overhunting. The construction of dams on rivers in Kansas and Oklahoma further hindered their ability to travel through water, eventually leading to their extinction in the Sunflower State.

“People were taking tons literally [alligator] pulling turtles out of streams,” Starks said.

Starks said KDWP is working with a hatchery in Oklahoma run by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to return the species to its historic range in Kansas. Their reintroduction to the state is not expected to cause any major disturbance to the local ecosystem, other than increased competition for resources with common snapping turtles that have taken over in the absence of alligator snapping turtles.

“The last one was collected in 1991,” Starks said. “By evolutionary standards, it hasn’t been long since those animals settled in those bodies of water. We don’t expect much change.”

Starks said KDWP plans to reintroduce alligator snapping turtles to Kansas by the fall of 2024. The turtles will be tagged in collaboration with staff from Missouri State University to measure their progress in rivers.

Most of the other species in the aquatic species recovery plan are small fish and mussels. KDWP works with private property owners across the state to reintroduce populations into wild spaces. In 2023, KDWP successfully reintroduced fatmucket and Neosho mucket mussels to the Marmaton and Neosho rivers. You can learn more about the plan by clicking here.

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