I wrote last year about our work surveying for Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtles (Machrochelys suwanniensis) in Georgia as part of a range-wide assessment of the species’ distribution and status. Since that time, there have been several exciting developments in our work with alligator snapping turtles.
Some of the first questions that emerge when a new wildlife disease is documented surround where the disease originated and how long has it been impacting wildlife populations. Is the disease emerging or has it been around for decades? Perhaps something else in the environment is just now making the disease bad enough that it is noticeable to biologists.