The American Box Turtle is one of the most highly recognized and loved turtles in North America. However, due to a loss of natural environment, an increase in roads, and indiscriminate gathering of these native turtles, they are becoming increasingly rare in the wild. Studies done over the last 50 years have shown a steady decline in the population of the American Box Turtle. Because of the dramatic decline and the extreme vulnerability of this species, they have been protected from international trade by the 1994 CITES treaty. In addition, many states have individual legislation protecting and strictly prohibiting the collection of any species of the American Box Turtle. This article will help explore the problems and possible remedies associated with their decline and hopeful recovery.

The plight of the American Box Turtle is one in which I have directly contributed. As a child, we often had several of these turtles in a small enclosure in our backyard. These small, docile turtles were usually found by myself or given to us by a family member that found them while they walked in the area woodlands. Their main function was to provide us with contestants for the neighborhood turtle races. Your prospective turtle would be identified with a number painted or taped to its shell and then placed in the center of a circle drawn with chalk on the concrete. The turtle that crossed the circle first was the winner. We provided the turtles with over-ripe vegetables from the garden or worms that we dug up. In the fall, we would usually take them to my grandpa's farm or the local park and turn them loose. The following summer, the process would repeat itself.

When I walk those same woodlands and fields today, I never see turtles anymore. Over the past twenty-five years, they have all but disappeared from that rural county in central Illinois. My grandfather and neighboring farmers all comment on their similar findings. The disappearance of American Box Turtles is a common problem in many counties throughout the United States, most likely from the same circumstances that I experienced. Looking back, I now realize that well-intentioned, but misinformed people like myself have greatly contributed to the demise of this simple creature.

The American Box Turtle is made up of four different species; carolina, ornata, nelsoni, and coahuila. Of these four species, only two are commonly found and include ornata (Western Box Turtle) and carolina of which there are six subspecies, four of which are common in the U.S. These subspecies include carolina carolina (Common Eastern Box Turtle), carolina trunguis (Three Toed Box Turtle), carolina major (Gulf Coast Box Turtle), and carolina baurie (Florida Box Turtle).

The Common Eastern Box Turtle is found from Maine to Georgia and westward to Michigan, Illinois, and Tennessee. The Three Toed Box Turtle is found from Texas and Alabama northward to Missouri. The Gulf Coast Box Turtle is found in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and western Florida. The Florida Box Turtle is found exclusively in Florida. The Western Ornate Box Turtle is found throughout the grasslands of South Dakota through Illinois and southward to Arizona and Texas.