More than 10 invasive turtles of a kind that cannot be legally kept in Massachusetts were found dead in the marsh at Caddy Memorial Park this week – probably after being dumped there. – via Herp Digest

The Patriot Ledger  Posted Jul. 28, 2016 at 12:01 am Updated Jul 28, 2016 at 4:50 PM

QUINCY – More than 10 invasive turtles of a kind that cannot be legally kept in Massachusetts were found dead in the marsh at Caddy Memorial Park this week – probably after being dumped there.

Joanne Mainiero, president of the Massachusetts Humane Society in Weymouth, said someone walking in the park across from Wollaston Beach on Tuesday evening saw the turtles and emailed photos to her. A New England Aquarium veterinarian who viewed the photos on Wednesday identified the turtles as red-eared sliders.

The red-eared slider is an aquatic turtle most commonly kept as a pet. The species is native to the southern United States, including Texas and Louisiana, but it has flourished in other places as released pets.

Related content Quincy grocers trade in same turtle species that was found on Wollaston Beach Chinese turtle found in Quincy Officials hope to spread the word that releasing this species in local waters poses a risk to the environment and native turtles.

The red-eared slider is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as one of the world’s 100 most invasive species, according to Tony LaCasse, the New England Aquarium’s media relations director.

Tom French, assistant director of the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program, said the state was notified of the turtles at Caddy Memorial Park and planned to visit the site Wednesday. Because the red-eared slider is a freshwater species, the turtles would not have survived for long in a saltwater marsh if they were dumped alive, he said.

“They’re a common turtle in Asian food markets,” French said. “Whoever dumped them could have been trying to do a good thing by releasing them.”

French said the red-eared slider is an invasive species because it out-competes native species, including the endangered Northern red-bellied cooter.

The state once allowed pet stores to sell red-eared sliders, which can grow to be up to 10 inches long and weigh more than a pound. Owners of the turtles began releasing them when they got too large, allowing them to become established as a breeding non-native turtle in several areas of the state.

As a result, the state in 2014 modified wildlife regulations to prohibit red-eared sliders from being sold in pet stores and imported into Massachusetts.