The red-eared slider or terrapin, native to North America are set to conquer Polish ponds, after bored pet owners release them into parks.

More and more of them can be spotted in Warsaw parks, like Skaryszewski, Lazienki and Wilanow. They are released by people who bought them as family pets, but realized how unsuitable they are to be kept at home or simply got bored with the animal, which can live up to 40 years.

A few years ago, specialists were not sure if the red-eared slider, which lives in southern parts of the United States, can survive in the Polish climate. Now they know they can.

“They survived the harsh winter and are laying eggs in the spring,” Mariusz Lech, a reptile and amphibian specialist at Warsaw Zoo told Gazeta Wyborcza.

The red eared slider is regarded as an alien species in Poland. It poses a threat to native wildlife, especially the protected European pond turtle as it is bigger and stronger. There are no European pond turtles in Warsaw, however, and the red-eared can be an attraction in the city parks, provided there are not too many of them.

“They are voracious animals, which can easily deprive small water reservoirs of their plant life and small animals. They are like the Colorado beetle in the past. Like them, they came from America,” says Mariusz Lech.

The red-eared sliders are sold by pet shops as cute little animals the size of a coin. But after two-three years they are already big (up to 40 cm), smelly and aggressive animals. That’s when many owners decide to release them into ponds. Perhaps Warsaw needs a shelter for exotic animals, as traditional animal shelters are bursting at the seams.

Last year, environmental patrol guards recovered over 1,000 exotic pets from the streets of Warsaw, such as snakes, lizards, iguanas, crabs and turtles. (kk)