Can turtles be bred faster in captivity?
They can be reared faster in captivity because the food they are given is in excess of what they would be able to find in the wild. However, there are a number of caveats to this, inasmuch as keeping turtles in captivity reduces their ability to function naturally and contributes to genetic mixing and population longevity. Ultimately, if turtles reared in captivity had some form of genetic defect, this might be amplified and multiplied in the wild as the turtles are released, whereas the limited mixing in the wild might have eliminated the threat.
