High hopes for ten turtles released into the wild in Latvia

Over the course of five years, the turtles have been carefully raised until they gained enough strength to be able to coexist with the often ferocious wildlife. The turtles spent their first years of life in a specially constructed outdoor pool near Daugavpils. They have now been moved to the Ruģeļi wetland. "We are restoring old populations, which have decreased due to human influence. They generally disappeared. Now we are restoring a historical animal in its historical habitat," said the head of the Latgale Zoo, Doctor of Biology Mihails Pupiņš. A newly hatched baby tutle is only a few centimetres long and often falls prey to predators, so they are raised in zoos until they are five years old and strong enough to be released into the wild. Then the chances of survival are significantly higher.