Belvedere Castle overlooks one of Central Park’s main water features, the Turtle Pond. Turtle Pond is home to a wide variety of wildlife including the park’s largest population of turtles. There are five different species of turtle in this pond including red-eared sliders, snapping, painted, musk, and box turtles. The red-eared sliders make up the largest population of turtles here and most of them were actually once house pets. The sliders are considered an invasive species now due to their tendency to crowd and box out the other species of turtles from food sources, as well as because of their contribution to harmful algal blooms.