Rare turtles, opportunistic predators the focus of GVSU-led conservation research to stabilize threatened species

That adaptability, resourcefulness and intelligence makes raccoons fascinating to research, said graduate student Annah Huberts, who is focusing more on the raccoons in this project, such as studying their foraging, resting behaviors and even social interaction among the animals. Huberts hopes the data will help develop "meaningful conservation action and inform management to better encompass the intelligence and how prolific raccoons are."

"Maybe we can reduce the impact of raccoons and maybe uplift these turtles and other sensitive species," Huberts added.

The researchers will analyze the data and seek to come up with intervention solutions to help conserve the turtles. Moore said there are potential ways to manage the landscape to help turtle populations thrive, such as creating a nesting habitat closer to where they spend most of their time to minimize the need for risky travel that can lead to interactions with raccoons or motorists, another significant contributor to turtle mortality.

That human intervention is necessary, Moore said, because humans have already had an impact on natural systems.

"We have changed the way natural systems function, and that's OK because we're part of these ecosystems as well," Moore said. "But it's our responsibility to make sure that we're good stewards of these ecosystems, and that sometimes means intervening to try and get them back to a more natural and functioning state, and that's what we try and do in landscapes like this."