Prehistoric-looking alligator snapping turtles to be reintroduced into Kansas waters

The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is teaming up with Missouri State University researchers to launch alligator snapping turtles into state waters in autumn of this year.

Juvenile alligator snapping turtles raised at the Tishomingo National Fish Hatchery in Oklahoma will be tagged and released into an area of the Neosho River. 

The Neosho River is a stream of the Arkansas River in eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma running about 463 miles long and is part of the Mississippi River watershed.

FISHERMAN HOOKS PREHISTORIC 200-POUND ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE BEFORE CATCHING MONSTER ALLIGATOR GAR

The turtles are between 6 and 8 years old.

The alligator snapping turtle is the largest species of freshwater turtle. Males typically weigh between 155 and 175 pounds, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

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"Alligator Snapping Turtles from the hatchery have been reintroduced in Illinois, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Reintroduction stockings of roughly 1,200 juvenile Alligator Snapping Turtles have occurred on the Caney, Neosho, and Verdigris Rivers in northeast Oklahoma," said a Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks (KDWP) press release.

Researchers will be able to track the tagged turtles to determine how far they move. 

The dinosaur-like turtles will then be recaptured to determine survival and growth rates. 

Alligator snapping turtles are declining due to habitat degradation and over-harvesting for their meat, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

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"Establishment of the species back into Kansas waters is unlikely to happen without human intervention due to several dams that occur on each of these rivers. None of the turtles released in Oklahoma have been captured in Kansas due to these barriers," according to a KDWP press release.

The first release is planned for the fall of 2024 with an additional release planned for 2025.