Probably the biggest problems with Box Turtles now being 'threatened' is that they have several survival disadvantages:
- Long lived, but slow to reach reproductive age (7+ years)
- Extremely limited territorial range (a boxie probably will never leave a radius of a mile from where it was born during its long life - if forcibly relocated it will try and 'home' back and usually refuse to settle in the new area)
- Fussy eating and environment requirements - definitely not a "pet" turtle for beginners
- Slow and prone to being run over by cars (human intrusion into habitat)
Thus if a turtle population dies out in a region, it is virtually impossible for it to become restocked over time. Several Native American indian tribes in New York State hunted boxies as a delicacy food during the 16th & 17th centuries. 300+ years later there are still no box turtles in those affected counties - once they become extinct in an area they'll stay extinct.
