Texas Offering $2K Rewards for Reporting Alligator Snapping Turtle Poaching
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has announced that they are doubling the reward for people who report alligator snapping turtle poaching if it leads to a conviction — bringing it up from $1,000 to $2,000.
The reward for helping to protect the threatened species is offered through Texas’ wildlife crime-stoppers program, Operation Game Thief (OGT).
According to the department, “the alligator snapping turtle is a freshwater turtle that resembles a small alligator with a ridged shell. Their range extends from the eastern part of Texas to Florida, and as far north as Ohio. They are listed as a threatened species and harvesting these turtles is illegal in Texas.”
“The high survivorship and long lives of adults makes populations of alligator snapping turtles very sensitive to the removal of even a small number of breeding adults,” said Paul Crump,
