GOOSE ISLAND — The appearance of a healthy, thick turtle named Chonk — Chicago’s latest animal superstar — could show how the improving health of the Chicago River has contributed to the return of local animal species, experts said.

The enormous snapping turtle became an international sensation after Joey Santore and Al Scorch shared video of him on social media and through their YouTube channel, “Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t.”
Chonk captured hearts because of his size, but people who frequent the river have routinely spotted other snapping turtles and baby turtles near where Chonk lives, dating back several months.

That’s an encouraging sign that local flora and fauna are starting to thrive along what had been a notoriously polluted waterway, experts said.

Santore said the enthusiastic response to Chonk shows many city dwellers are interested in and eager to connect with nature despite their highly developed surroundings.

“The simple fact of the matter is that it feels good for people to be around these things, and [it] helps draw people out of the often depressing and anxiety-inducing nature of the modern human world,” Santore said. “Native plants, native wildlife, etc. — it feels good to see it thriving so close to home.”

Many of Chicago’s waterways have long had a reputation for pollution as a result of years of local industrialization. The river has been threatened by invasive species like the Asian carp, which thrives in polluted waterways, Santore said.

Chris Anchor, a senior wildlife biologist for the Forest Preserves of Cook County, said the Chicago River’s poor reputation dates back 40 or 50 years, when conditions were worse and the river could be likened to “an open sewer.”

“It had raw sewage and industrial pollution emptying into the river. … The Des Plaines River was [in] the same condition. No one recreated on the river, and there were only two or three species of fish found in it,” Anchor told Block Club Chicago’s Jon Hansen for the “It’s All Good” podcast. 

It was the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, coupled with the combined efforts of groups like the Forest Preserves of Cook County, Army Corps of Engineers and Friends of the Chicago River that helped improve the health of the waterway, Anchor said.

With dumping illegal and the culling of invasive plants while planting of native ones, the water quality of the river improved, attracting animals like Chonk, other snapping turtles and other species, Anchor said. Groups like Urban Rivers are working to restore the river’s ecosystem through initiatives like bringing freshwater mussels back to the waterway.