Seven Georgia critters are listed in a petition that seeks Endangered Species Act protection for 53 of the nation’s most threatened species of amphibians and reptiles.
In the largest petition to focus only on amphibians and reptiles, the Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect six turtles, seven snakes, two toads, four frogs, 10 lizards and 24 salamanders under the Act.
Among them are these Peach State natives: the alligator snapping turtle, Pigeon Mountain salamander, green salamander, Carolina gopher frog, the southern hog-nosed snake, spotted turtle and the Florida pine snake. The last four occur along the coastal plain.
“Georgia specifically and the Southeast more generally are biodiversity hot spots for amphibians and reptiles, especially turtles,” said Collette Adkins Giese, a Center biologist and lawyer. “There really is an amphibian and reptile extinction crisis going on here. They need protection and aren’t getting it.”
Growing concerns about the international trade in freshwater turtles for food and for the pet trade led Georgia to pass its first regulations protecting all freshwater turtles earlier this year.
Mike Harris, the chief of the nongame conservation section of the Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division, said the two Georgia turtles on the Center’s petition were also state-listed as threatened and therefore protected from harvest.
In fact, all the Georgia animals on the petition except the green salamander are afforded some extra protection in the state, though federal listing could provide additional habitat protection.
Savannah biologist Bobby Moulis, who works for Chatham County Mosquito Control, has a keen interest in reptiles and amphibians and has seen their decline firsthand.
“You used to be able to find spotted turtles by the Savannah Mall,” he said. “You ain’t gonna find that anymore.”
The turtles like the same dark water that people want to put houses along.
“Habitat loss is the biggest thing,” he said.