5 Endangered Turtles Hatch at the Tennessee Aquarium

The new babies bring the Aquarium population to 20, the only 20 in the country.

Beals are extremely small turtles from Southeast Asia.

Their numbers have dramatically declined over the last 15 years and the recommendation is that they be put on the Critically Endangered list.

The Tennessee Aquarium is one of the few around the world that is successfully hatching them, thanks to senior herpetologist Bill Hughes. 

“When I started working with Beal’s-eyed Turtles, I liked their rather small size and appearance,” said Hughes. “This was also a species that very few people had success rearing, so I saw this as a challenge to better understand and help this species.”

Researchers say that about half of the world’s turtle species are not endangered.