A western painted turtle found in Saskatchewan could be the largest on record for the species.

The turtle named Olga was discovered on Tuesday by University of Regina graduate student Kelsey Marchand and her assistant Alyssa Stulberg. They both are working on a project whose aim is to have more knowledge about the province’s turtle population over the next two years.

Marchand said that they could identify the family of turtle and thought it to a snapping turtle. Its carapace length (top shell) was around 25 to 50 years old. Another large female turtle discovered was having a carapace length of 25.3 centimeters.

Both of these turtles along with other 13 have been fitted with radio transmitters and released back into the wild. With the help of antenna, the researchers are able to know activities these turtles are carrying out like mating, laying eggs and hibernating during winter.

Seeing both the turtles there is a hope that a healthy population will be present. Turtles live long and grow slowly. Therefore, there are chances that the creatures could be over 100 years old.
“These two big turtles were likely in Regina when the Riders won their first Grey Cup back in 1966 and they just may have been here when Saskatchewan joined Confederation in 1905”, affirmed Ray Poulin.

By knowing more about Wascana’s turtles, researchers will be able to know whether or not the population is still healthy. It is good to know as much as they can about the species as it will help researchers in the future.