Turtle Survival Alliance, 5070 International Boulevard Ste. 124, #252, North Charleston, SC (2026)

10/13/2026

It’s once again, and today we’re highlighting the Tabasco Mud Turtle (Kinosternon acutum)! 🐢

Did you know Belize is home to four species of mud turtles? The Tabasco Mud Turtle is the smallest of the bunch, growing to just over 4½ inches long.

During the hot, dry months, the Tabasco Mud Turtle burrows beneath leaf litter to estivate (a period of dormancy during hot, dry conditions). When the heavy downpours of the rainy season return, they emerge to seek out shallow pools and wetlands for food and water!

We’re proud to support our partner, the Belize Foundation for Research & Environmental Education (BFREE), in raising awareness of this species and conducting local population studies to better understand and protect Belize’s turtles.

Want to learn more about Belize’s lesser-known turtle species? The Tabasco Mud Turtle is featured in BFREE’s Hicatee & Friends Coloring Book, created to introduce more people to the turtles that call Belize home. Download and print your own copy through the link in our bio!

Follow along with TSA and BFREE throughout October as we of Hicatee Awareness Month! 💚

10/12/2026

On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we’re recognizing and honoring the knowledge, leadership, and stewardship Indigenous communities bring to turtle conservation, including the deep cultural significance of turtles and their relationships with the land and water.

The Indigenous and volunteer-led Turtle Protectors stewardship program works to protect, support, and advocate for turtles living in Tkaronto, or Toronto, Canada. Their work is grounded in relationships with turtles, the land, water, and all our relations, reflecting a perspective in which turtles are valued for more than their ecological role.

That perspective shapes how Turtle Protectors understands turtles, including the snapping turtle. These turtles are among the most recognizable in the world, with their large size and sharp jaws, which can be intimidating to those unfamiliar with them. For Turtle Protectors, however, these turtles hold a strong connection to Mother Earth. Their physical features have been interpreted as symbols of moon cycles, changing seasons, and the four directions. Turtles are also described as healers of the waters, reflecting their role in helping keep waterways clean and healthy.

Common Snapping Turtles (Chelydra serpentina) are one example of this ecological role. As both scavengers and predators, they help keep waterways clean and maintain balance within their ecosystem. Other turtle species play important ecological roles in different ways, including dispersing seeds by eating plants and passing seeds through their digestive systems.

Turtle Protectors’ work includes protecting nesting mothers and their nests, helping turtles safely cross roads, and assisting hatchlings and injured turtles. Their educational work is guided by Etuaptmumk, or Two-Eyed Seeing, a concept spoken of by Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall. Turtle Protectors describes this approach as drawing on the strengths of both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a reminder to continue learning from, recognizing, and honoring Indigenous knowledge, leadership, and stewardship not only today, but throughout the year. Learn more about Turtle Protectors and their approach to turtle stewardship at turtleprotectors.com.

📷: Courtesy of Turtle Protectors (1), Daniela Rupolo (2), Mai Ly (3), Patrick Moldowan (4)

10/12/2026

The official TSA Calendar for 2027 is here!

This year’s theme is Turtles of Latin America and the Caribbean, featuring stunning photography and the stories of 12 remarkable turtle and tortoise species, along with the people working to protect them.

Latin America and the Caribbean is one of the world’s most important regions for turtle diversity. Of the 35 countries where TSA works, 13 are in this region, home to some of the most unique and threatened turtles and tortoises on Earth.

Yet many turtle species remain understudied, with significant gaps in our understanding of their populations, habitats, genetics, and conservation needs. TSA and our local partners are working to close those gaps and put knowledge into meaningful conservation action.

Each month brings you closer to the turtles we're working to protect. Through beautiful photographs and conservation stories, discover how TSA and our partners are advancing field research, protecting threatened species, and building local capacity to ensure these turtles have a future in the wild.

Purchasing a calendar allows you to celebrate turtles throughout the year while supporting their conservation. Proceeds from calendar sales support TSA’s conservation efforts for turtles in this region and beyond.

TSA members at the Conservationist level ($250+ in support) will receive a complimentary 2027 Calendar by mail within two to three weeks.

Shop now to bring these extraordinary turtles to your home and help protect their future in the wild: https://shop.turtlesurvival.org/products/2027-turtle-survival-alliance-calendar

Pictured:
Magdalena River Turtle (Podocnemis lewyana)
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Photo by Jhonattan Vanegas

10/09/2026

The latest news from Jacksonville University.

10/08/2026

We’ve got yet another line-up of Drink B**r. Save Turtles.® events! 🍻🐢 Join in on the fall fun at any of these locations:

🍻 October 16: Two Blokes Brewing (Two Blokes Brewing Co.) | Charleston, SC
🍻 October 24: Ichabod’s Grille (Ichabods Grille) | Topeka, KS
🍻 November 6: Afterglow Brewing (Afterglow Brewing) | Norfolk, VA

🍂 More information for each event is available on the News & Events page of our website, linked in our bio.

These family-friendly events are a great way to connect with other turtle enthusiasts and conservation supporters. Meet live turtle ambassadors, shop our Drink B**r. Save Turtles.® merchandise, and raise a glass to turtle conservation! Every pint, every purchase, and every donation directly supports our mission to create a planet where turtles thrive in the wild.

Plus, we have NEW Drink B**r. Save Turtles.® items available in our online shop! These pieces feature the Arakan Forest Turtle (Heosemys depressa), a species we’re safeguarding at our Turtle Survival Center and in Bangladesh along with our partners in conservation. 🐢

Interested in hosting a Drink B**r. Save Turtles.® event in your community? Email [email protected] to get started!

**rSaveTurtles

10/06/2026

It’s the first of Hicatee Awareness Month! 🐢 Today, we’re spotlighting the Central American Snapping Turtle (Chelydra rossignonii).

At first glance, the Central American Snapping Turtle may look a lot like its northern counterpart, the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), but look a little closer and you’ll spot some differences. This species typically has small, fleshy, whisker-like projections called barbels on its chin, including a particularly long and conspicuous pair. Scientists believe these barbels may serve a sensory function, helping them gather information about their surroundings.

It’s also one of the largest freshwater turtle species in Central America, with males reaching lengths of up to 47 centimeters (18.5 inches).

We’re proud to support our partner, the Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental Education (BFREE), in their efforts to raise awareness of the species and conduct local population studies.

The Central American Snapping Turtle is just one of the turtles you’ll find in BFREE’s Hicatee & Friends Coloring Book, created to help introduce more people to Belize’s lesser-known turtle species. Download and print out your own copy:https://cdn.turtlesurvival.org/2025/10/Updated-Hicatee-and-friends-coloring-book-2025.pdf

Follow along with us and Belize Foundation for Research & Environmental Education throughout October as we of Hicatee Awareness Month! 🐢

10/05/2026

Tiny turtle, bright future.🌻

We’ve been supporting long-term monitoring and research of the critically endangered Egyptian Tortoise (Testudo kleinmanni) to learn more about its conservation needs.

Finding these tortoises isn’t always easy due to their small size and seasonal changes in behavior. That’s why returning to the field year after year is so important. Consistent surveys help us spot patterns over time and learn more about where these tortoises live and how they behave.

We’re also working alongside local communities, whose valuable knowledge of the environment and its inhabitants adds an important perspective to this research while bringing more people into conservation.

Now, we can share an update from this work that could have important implications for the species’ conservation: we discovered a previously undocumented population outside of our established monitoring sites. This new population expands current knowledge of the species' occurrence and adds a new focus for our follow-up surveys.

Turtle species can vanish quickly, but saving them takes decades. This small but mighty tortoise deserves a chance to thrive in the wild, and our research and monitoring are helping protect its future.

Follow along to see how we’re giving a tiny tortoise halfway across the world a better chance to persist and thrive in the wild.

10/01/2026

The Hicatee is disappearing…but together we can save it.

The Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii) is found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Locally known in Belize as the “Hicatee,” this species is classified as Critically Endangered due to unsustainable harvesting for human consumption, as well as habitat destruction and degradation.

This October marks the 10th annual , a month dedicated to celebrating the Hicatee and other freshwater and inland turtles of Belize alongside our longtime partner, the Belize Foundation for Environmental Research and Education (BFREE) (BFREE).

For more than 15 years, Turtle Survival Alliance and BFREE have worked together to help protect the Hicatee through field research, community education, captive breeding and headstarting, habitat protection, and reintroduction efforts. That work recently reached an important milestone with the Belize government’s approval and endorsement of a new Conservation and Action Plan for the species. Developed by BFREE in collaboration with the Belize Fisheries Department, TSA, Zoo New England, and dozens of other stakeholders, the plan outlines 58 strategic actions to help secure the Hicatee’s future.

Each Tuesday throughout October, we’ll be spotlighting a different turtle species native to Belize and highlighting the research and conservation work helping us better understand and protect them. Follow us and BFREE throughout the month to learn how we’re supporting these species.

Video footage from our webinar, “From Data to Action: Advancing Turtle Conservation Across Latin America and the Caribbean,” available to watch on our Youtube Channel.

09/29/2026

What happens when a group of turtle conservationists, researchers, and volunteers head into the Belizean jungle for a week? They survey 165 turtles, document seven species in the wild, and put a whole lot of teamwork into action. 🐢🌿

Each year, we partner with the Belize Foundation of Research and Environmental Education (BFREE) (BFREE) to conduct long-term population monitoring of freshwater and terrestrial turtles within BFREE’s 1,153-acre privately protected area in Belize. The sixth annual survey took place this past summer as part of a 10-year monitoring effort to better understand population trends and inform conservation strategies.

Participants encountered seven turtle species in the wild, plus the Central American River Turtles in captive care at the Hicatee Conservation and Research Center, allowing them to interact with eight of Belize’s nine total turtle species.

There were some memorable recaptured individuals, including a Mexican Giant Musk Turtle, which was the largest individual recorded at the site so far. The team also recaptured a Tabasco Mud Turtle that was first encountered as a hatchling in 2022. These recaptures are especially valuable because they help researchers understand how individual turtles grow and move through their habitats over time.

We’re proud to partner with BFREE and support the researchers and volunteers working to better understand and protect Belize’s turtles. Here’s to another year of muddy boots, teamwork, new discoveries, and lots of turtles! 🐢

Registration for the next survey begins in January 2027. Follow us and BFREE to stay up to date on future turtle research opportunities.

📸: (1,2,4-6,8,10,13) Brian Thomas - brianthomasart.com; (3,12) Chase Gravatt, (7,9,11) Emma Welker

Turtle Survival Alliance

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