GAINESVILLE, Fla., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A river turtle species, once one of the most wide-ranging in the United States, still suffers from past harvesting and declining water quality, researchers say.
University of Florida researchers studying river turtles in Missouri found populations of the northern map turtle have not recovered from harvesting, mostly for food, that caused a 50 percent population loss between 1969 and 1980, the university reported Tuesday.