167 Turtles Mysteriously Dumped In River Rescued By NJ Shelter

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — It started with a strange discovery nearly 25 miles away, along the Rahway River in Cranford. But the fallout has landed squarely in Mercer County, where the county's Wildlife Center is now caring for more than 160 rescued turtles in what staff are calling an unprecedented rehabilitation effort.

On the morning of Wednesday, July 29, Cranford residents began noticing turtles — dozens of them, then more than 100 — scattered near Riverside Drive and Casino Avenue. Some initially assumed the animals were snapping turtles that had emerged after heavy rain. They were wrong.

The turtles turned out to be box turtles, a species that rarely turns up in these numbers, and rarely near a riverbank at all. Investigators with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Fish and Wildlife division believe someone illegally dumped more than 150 of them at the site, and they suspect the animals may have been part of an illegal wildlife trade before being abandoned.

The group included Eastern box turtles, which are native to New Jersey and have a patterned shell, and Three-toed box turtles, a species not native to the state with a plainer brown shell, according to the Cranford Fire Department.

Word spread quickly through the small Union County town. Residents grabbed gloves and cardboard boxes and began combing yards, courtyards and roadways for turtles, coordinating with animal control officers, firefighters and police. Within days, close to 100 had been recovered. The investigation into who dumped the turtles, and why, remains active and ongoing. Police have not released information about a suspect.

The Turtles Land In Mercer County

The recovered turtles couldn't simply be released back into the wild. Wildlife officials said every animal needed a full veterinary evaluation first, and that responsibility fell to the Mercer County Wildlife Center, which took in the turtles for rehabilitation even as it was already caring for hundreds of other wild animals during what staff have called their busiest season.

The scale of the response caught even center staff off guard. According to a letter from Rehabilitation Manager Nicole Golden, the number of turtles admitted at the Mercer County facility climbed from 30 to 50 to 80 in the first 24 hours alone. By the 72-hour mark, 141 turtles had been admitted, weighed, triaged, X-rayed, photographed and medicated as needed. By Sunday, Aug. 2, that number had reached 158. As of Monday, Aug. 3, it stood at 167 — and climbing.

Golden described the early hours of the response as chaotic. "In the first 24 hours, I was panicked about how we would handle this," she wrote on Facebook, adding that within another day the center had a plan in place and was executing it.

Handling an emergency of this size has meant scrambling for additional housing, equipment and daily supplies almost overnight. Volunteers converted an entire building at the Mercer County center into turtle housing, according to the facility, and continue to improve it and care for the animals as new turtles arrive.

In her letter, Golden credited a long list of partners with making the response possible: NJDEP Fish & Wildlife law enforcement and biologists, Cranford residents who collected turtles to keep them safe, the Cranford Fire Department, animal control officers, the Mercer County Wildlife Center's own staff and volunteers, nonprofit partner Wildlife Center Friends, the Mercer County Park Commission, Nautilus Avian & Exotics Veterinary Specialists, and veterinarian Dr. Nikki Harley, who spent a full day examining turtles and organizing an assessment spreadsheet so each one receives appropriate care.

Because the dumping case remains under investigation, the Wildlife Center said it's limited in what it can share about how or why the turtles ended up along the river, and it plans to provide updates as more information becomes available.

In the meantime, the Mercer County Wildlife Center is asking the public for help covering the cost of the response. Wildlife Center Friends, the center's nonprofit partner, is raising money to purchase storage bins, water pans, UV lighting, food and other supplies needed throughout the turtles' rehabilitation. The organization said monetary donations are the most useful form of support, since they allow staff to buy exactly what's needed as care continues. Donations can be made at wildlifecenterfriends.org.

The center is also accepting gift cards from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm, which can be emailed directly to the Wildlife Center Friends director, as well as food and UV lighting purchased through its Amazon wish list. Staff asked that the public not bring produce, worms or glass aquariums directly to the facility.

For now, the turtles remain in the Mercer County Wildlife Center's care, each one part of what Golden described as an "incredible feat" made possible by a week of near-constant support.

“I am amazed at what has been accomplished in just 96 hours, and I thank all of you for making it possible," Golden said.

“We have a lot more work ahead of us, but because of you, I know we can do it.”

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