09/03/2026
A Morning of Teamwork, Turtles & Conservation!
On Saturday, the Kansas Wesleyan University Softball team traded their gloves and bats for turtle surveys as they headed to Rolling Hills Zoo to lend a hand with an important conservation project!
The team met with Ryan VanZant, Rolling Hills Zoo Executive Director, to learn more about Kansas’ ornate box turtles and the Zoo’s involvement with AZA’s Wildlife Confiscations Network. They also got an up-close introduction to the most recently arrived ornate box turtles, confiscated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service as part of a wildlife trafficking investigation.
Then it was time for the team to put their surveying skills to work!
The KWU softball players headed into the larger containment area, home to turtles that arrived last year and are now living semi-wild in a protected section of native prairie. Their mission was to spread out across the habitat, locate as many turtles as possible, and carefully bring them to Siarra Dinkel, Rolling Hills Zoo Veterinary Technician, where each turtle was weighed and measured.
And while some turtles were nowhere to be found (likely tucked away in the tall grass or safely resting in burrows) the turtles that were discovered were active and doing well.
It was a great morning of teamwork, hands-on learning and conservation in action!
We are grateful to the Kansas Wesleyan University Softball team for volunteering their time and helping us monitor these remarkable turtles. Experiences like this are a wonderful reminder that conservation takes a team - and sometimes, that team includes a group of college softball players searching the prairie for turtles!
Thank you, KWU Softball, for being part of the Rolling Hills Zoo conservation family!
