Sorry to tell you but it probably didn't survive. If an animal is raised by humans it doesn't know how to survive in the wild...
That's not completely true. There are many animals whose instincts take over. Especially if they aren't a domesticated species.
Yes but the chance of survival is very little because the thing you said, the "instincts take over", is almost impossible because if the animal is born and raised by humans it doesn't know how to survive in the wild.
Think about it, if you raised a leopard in your house from his birth until he grew up, do you think it could know how to hunt efficiently like a leopard raised in the wild?
It'd figure it out, yeah. Not saying it'd survive as easily though.
....You just released it to certain death. It is common knowledge by animal experts and organizations that except in special cases, turtles especially should never be released into the wild. Feel free to do your own research about it to understand why.
I'm a biology student at an animal research center and there is a reason why captured animals have to go through a length adaptation and rehabilitation process (a few weeks or a few months) before being deemed fit enough to survive in the wild. And those are for animals that were born wild but were domesticated briefly.
(Just wanted to leave this comment here so anyone else who sees this comment thread won't make the same mistake.)
I will trust you since you have studied it. Wish I'd known back then. I would have tried to convince my parents not to let him go. I was just a kid though.
I also want to say that while I thought for certain animals instinct would eventually take over and they had a chance of survival (like, even domestic cats who become strays will figure out how to hunt and scavenge; some people even argue that cats aren't actually domesticated), I would never do that to a pet. I believe once you get a pet, you have an obligation to care for them until death, but if you can't then find a good home for it. If there was a wild animal that was hurt and I helped it heal, I probably would have released it back into the wild before what you told me. Now if that ever happens, I guess I'll have to research what to do.
There was a major flood where we lived from a hurricane. And my parents released our turtle into a flooded stream. I wasn't sure how to feel about it, since turtles aren't technically domesticated animals. But now I feel kind of bad after reading this. Was he able to survive?