An aura of excitement filled the air near the Neosho River in Kansas on a hot September morning. State wildlife officials gathered around several large, gray bins, snapping photos and eagerly chatting. Why the excitement?
Forty, dinner-plate-sized alligator snapping turtles, about to be released into the wild.
The last known living alligator snapping turtle collected in Kansas was found in Onion Creek, a tributary of the Verdigris River in southeast Kansas, said Trevor Starks, aquatic species recovery coordinator for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP)…