An information sign changes the way the public perceives exotic pond sliders Trachemys scripta in the Altrhein of Kehl (Germany)

Abstract

Invasive pond sliders (Trachemys scripta) have been released in thousands of freshwaters within Europe and reproduce in the southern states and even in warm areas of Germany. All member states of the European Union must have an action plan how to fight this invasive species. The German action plan focusses on informing the public, but to date no study investigated the impact of such actions. Instead, NGOs setting up information signs report that this does not stop the release of exotic pond turtles, but without any quantitative measure. In 2019, we put up an information sign at the Althrein of Kehl, an oxbow lake where for the first time it had been shown that T. scripta is breeding in Germany. I performed interviews with people walking along the oxbow lake before the sign was pit up in 2019, and again in 2022. Counts of exotic pond turtles still increased, but this was mainly due to an increased number of small pond turtles, while numbers of very large ones did not further increase. This indicates that the increase in peak counts might be rather due to local reproduction than additional release. After the information sign was set up, more people responded that the presence of exotic pond turtles is problematic for nature conservation and animal welfare, that its illegal to release them, and that they should be removed. This response was especially strong in people who had read the information sign. Independent of the information sign, most interviewed people stated that one should not release pond turtles into the wild, but bring them to animal shelters. While the data here only represent one single case study that might not be representative, its the first study showing that putting up information signs is effective in changing the attitude of people who had read it. This indicates that investment into informing the public is worthwhile, but also that at the same time evaluations of the impact of the measures are important. National action plans should focus on a combination of informing the public and removing the exotic pond turtles, but also on providing keepers of these animals the option to leave the animals at an animal shelter instead of releasing them into the wild.