A TURTLE native to the warm climate of southern United States has defied the odds and is now ensconced in Kilkenny.
Abandoned by its owners, Lily the turtle survived the snow, ice and floods of winter and being bitten – possibly by a fox or a badger – before turning up on the bank of the River Nore near Thomastown last week.
Fisherman Jamie McHardy spotted the female yellow belly slider turtle and contacted the local newspaper, the Kilkenny People.
The turtle is aged from five to 15 years and is the size of a small football. She had been in the river a long time and had probably been feeding on the protected species of tiny freshwater shrimp and mussels because of the colouring on her belly, said James Hennessy, curator of Gowran Reptile Zoo, who examined Lily. She also had a number of bite marks.
John Davenport, professor of zoology at University College Cork, said he had been asked to identify a few of this species in the past year. There was a similar problem with closely related red-eared sliders a few years ago until they were banned, Prof Davenport said.
The turtle was probably released into the water by her owners because a pet like this could become a struggle due to its size and the smell, Ben Lyons, owner of Reptile Haven pet shop in Dublin, said. This popular pet cost about €20 or €30, he added.
Mr Lyons said the turtle might have hibernated in the river and would have emerged when temperatures rose.
Kilkenny conservation ranger Jimi Conroy said such predator reptiles could wipe out native species and have a “disastrous impact on the food chain”.