Terrapene ornata
Silhouette: Beth Reinke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Terrapene ornata is a species of North American box turtle sometimes referred to as the western box turtle or the ornate box turtle. It is one of two recognized species of box turtle in the United States, having two subspecies. The second recognized species of box turtle is the eastern box turtle, Terrapene carolina. T. carolina has six subspecies, two of which are endemic to Mexico.
There are two subspecies of T. ornata: Ornate box turtle, Terrapene ornata ornata (Agassiz, 1857) Desert box turtle, Terrapene ornata luteola (Smith & Ramsey, 1952) T. ornata has a shell that is less domed than other species of box turtle, appearing to be slightly flattened.
Both sub-species, although they live in dry, arid environments, will dig deep burrows to escape the heat and allow access to... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Safari West | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Ecological Center of Sonora | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Dallas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Phoenix Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Cape May County Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | 南昌新动物园 | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 8 | ABQ BioPark: Zoo, Aquarium, Botanic Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Dickerson Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Fort Worth Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Irvine Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Austin Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Potter Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Bayou Safari Wildlife Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | El Paso Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Lincoln Children's Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 18 | The Abilene Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 19 | Sunset Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | Racine Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Amarillo Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | Happy Hollow Park & Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 23 | Henry Vilas Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 24 | Recreativo San Jorge | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 25 | Orange County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 26 | Zoo Samara | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 27 | OdySea Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 28 | Bangkok Aquarium | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 29 | Heal the Bay Aquarium | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 30 | In-Sync Exotics Wildlife Rescue and Educational Center | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 31 | Penny Lane Foal Rescue | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 32 | River’s Wish Animal Sanctuary | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 33 | Sea Life Arizona | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 34 | Serpent Safari | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 35 | Virginia Living Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Western Box Turtle sighting in Saguaro National Park on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 50th most-seen of the 51 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Box Turtle in Saguaro National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months. Those are among Saguaro National Park's wettest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against almost none in May.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Box Turtle sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Saguaro National Park, in our data
Saguaro National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Western Box Turtle sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Box Turtle is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Saguaro National Park (29 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
