John Urquhart

Ontario Legislature Dept: They can t run fast and these particular turtles can t even swim well, so there s can t be much sport in it. It s made all the weirder by the fact that snapping turtles were designated an at-risk species years ago. That means experts think they may be on their way to endangered status. How can that be compatible with allowing anyone with a fishing or small game licence to bag two a day in season?, according to The Star. How could they possibly know? They don t track the number of hunters, they don t track the turtles killed and they don t know how many turtles remain. Under the current rules hunters could legally kill every snapping turtle in Ontario, says Ontario Nature s biologist John Urquhart. Whose definition of sustainable is that and an 11,000-signature petition to end the snapping turtle hunt will be presented to the Ontario Legislature on Wednesday. It s a fair bet that just about everyone not on that list has no idea that turtle hunting is even a concern in this province. This petition, organized by the Friends of the Snapping Turtle, isn t the first demand for additional protections for this ancient, armoured creature. In the past, the ministry of natural resources has refused to say that the snapping turtle hunt is sustainable. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.