Anthropogenic Threats to Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys)

Amy K. Shook^1,*, Charles D. Battaglia², Kevin M. Enge³, Carl J. Franklin⁴, James C. Godwin⁵, Aaron C. Johnson¹, Ethan J. Kessler⁶, Eric Munscher⁷, Kelly Norrid⁸, Luke Pearson⁹, Viviana Ricardez⁴, Dirk J. Stevenson¹⁰, Travis M. Thomas¹¹, and John L. Carr¹

¹Biology—School of Sciences, University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA 71209. ²Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Lafayette, LA 70506. ³Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Gainesville, FL 32601. ⁴Texas Turtles, 1001 Denmark Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75050. ⁵Alabama Natural Heritage Program, Museum of Natural History, Department of Biological Sciences, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849. ⁶Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820. ⁷SWCA Environmental Consultants, 10245 West Little York Road, Suite 600, Houston, Texas 77040. ⁸Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Urban Wildlife Program, 14320 Garrett Road, Houston, TX 77338. ⁹US Fish and Wildlife Service, Mississippi Ecological Services Field Office, 6578 Dogwood View Parkway, Jackson, MS 39213. ¹⁰Altamaha Environmental Consulting, 414 Club Drive, Hinesville, GA 31313. ¹¹Nature Coast Biological Station, University of Florida, Cedar Key, FL 32625. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist,Volume 22, Special Issue 12 (2023): 25–55

Abstract
With the conservation status of Macrochelys (alligator snapping turtles) being examined at the national level, our objective was to compile categorical data on threats from anthropogenic interactions. We included information from (1) author-collected anecdotes on human–turtle interactions and (2) radiographs to assess the prevalence of ingested fishing hooks. We placed 173 interactions involving 192 incidents into 9 IUCN threat categories and found bycatch involving fish hooks to be 4 times more numerous than the second-most numerous threat, turtle persecution. Fishing bycatch resulted in a high proportion of turtle mortalities (39%), and bycatch incidents in several cases preceded the highest-mortality threat (53%), persecution of individuals involving shooting or blunt trauma. We recommend fishing bycatch-mitigation measures and educational efforts to help conserve Macrochelys.

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