The work on the Alligator Snapping Turtle began with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources wanting to re-establish the species in Illinois. After serving on a recovery team to create a work plan we performed two pilot releases, in a lentic and lotic system. After the successful survival of head-started turtles in a lotic system, the recovery team was reconvened and expanded. Using a PVA guided release strategy, in 2014 releases of radio-equipped turtles began in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in a cooperative effort funded by a multi-state competitive State Wildlife Initiative Grant. Ethan Kessler is leading the project for his doctoral dissertation. The major collaborators on this project are Dr. John L Carr and Dr. Day B. Ligon. The project is a large-scale collaborative effort.
