Snapping turtles mate in the water, and then the female will climb up onto sandy shores to lay her eggs in a hole she has dug in the sand. She lays dozens of leathery eggs at once, then covers ...

Harvesting turtles is particularly damaging because turtles have low fertility, low egg and hatchling survival and delayed maturity ... The Service also proposed a special rule that prohibits the ...

low egg and hatchling survival, and delayed maturity. This means their survival depends on many adult turtles having many opportunities to mate over a long period. Endangered Species Act protection ...