AUSTIN, TexasTurtles have been returned to their pond at The University of Texas at Austin following completion of a project to repair the three small ponds in the Tower Garden, a grassy, tree-covered area north of the Main Building.
|
||
|
Photo: Marsha Miller |
||
|
This turtle, a red-eared slider, is one of the 27 released today that quickly became reacquainted with the Tower Garden ponds. |
Graduate students and faculty members from the School of Biological Sciences released 27 turtles Tuesday (May 14) back into the largest of the three ponds as a small crowd of people from the university community observed the homecoming.
The ponds also have been stocked with fish, including Texas Red Shiners and Gambusia, that also are known as “mosquito fish,” said Dr. Paul D. Gottlieb, chair of the Turtle Pond Committee and director of the university’s School of Biological Sciences.
“The turtles were out there basking in the morning sun today,” Gottlieb said Wednesday. He said logs and stones were placed in the large pond to provide the turtles with hiding places as well as to serve as a place for basking. He said although plants have been placed in the ponds, food supplements will be provided for the wildlife while the plants are growing and developing.
Gottlieb said it became necessary to repair the ponds after Physical Plant personnel determined water was seeping through cracks in the pond liners. The plants and wildlife were removed to other campus locations during the process of repairing the ponds and cleaning the accumulated sludge. The project began in March and met the university’s goal of completion in time for the ponds to be an attraction for people attending spring commencement 2002 activities this weekend.
|
||
| Photo: Marsha Miller | ||
|
Greg Pauly, a graduate student in Integrative Biology, returning turtles to the pond after their sojourn at the J.J. Pickle Research campus where they were housed. |
Gottlieb said the pond was considerably polluted before the repair project and should now be much cleaner.
“Also, the water quality should be much better since we will not have to use as much city water to make up the losses from leaks,” Gottlieb said. “We hope those factors will allow us to support a more diverse fish community, so that we can use the pond as an aid to more of our biology classes.”
He said it is important that well-meaning people not throw food into the ponds or dump their own pet turtles or fish into the water.
“Please don’t feed them, as we need to control the quality and quantity of their diet,” Gottlieb said. “We will ensure that they have enough to eat. Also, please do not take anything out of or put anything into the ponds. This includes fish and turtles. We will maintain the populations at levels that are healthy for the animals.”
For further information contact: Robert D. Meckel, Office of Public Affairs, (512) 471-3151.
