This year marks 35 years of tireless efforts by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Woodland Park Zoo to help save Washington state’s endangered western pond turtle. The population got another bump when the two organizations recently released 37 juvenile turtles to a local protected site. 

The released turtles are part of the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project. Every summer, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists retrieve the eggs from wild nests and bring them to the zoo where they are incubated and hatched. In the zoo’s Cathy Herzig Basecamp Northwest, the animal keepers raise the hatchlings for several months, feeding them an abundant, nutritious diet of fish, worms and other high protein items. 

Western pond turtles can live to be 50 years old. While turtles are characteristically slow, they also have a slow growth rate. “Western pond turtles take 10 to 12 years to reach sexual maturity. Few hatchlings make it to adulthood in the wild. Without intervention, these populations likely would not recover,” said Erin Sullivan, an animal curator at Woodland Park Zoo. 

About the size of a quarter when they hatch, the tiny turtles are given a head start under the care of the animal care team at the zoo where they are nourished all winter long in an environment safely away from predators. The goal is to get the turtles to the sweet spot of 2 to 3 ounces—a suitable size to escape the mouths of invasive bullfrogs, which eat baby pond turtles.

Once the turtles are large enough and confirmed to be healthy, they’re released to protected ponds in the state to move on to the next chapter of their lives: living in protected wetlands where they can submerge in vegetation, basking on logs, swimming among mud banks, and dining on insects, amphibians and aquatic plants. The turtles are then monitored by WDFW biologists.

To help restore these rare pond turtles to their natural habitat, recovery workers take to the field each year. WDFW attaches transmitters to adult female western pond turtles and monitors the turtles every two hours during the nesting season to determine their nesting sites. The nests are protected with protective exclosures to help prevent predators from eating the eggs. In the early summer, eggs and hatchlings are gathered and transported to Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo where they can grow in safety.

Over the past 15 years or so, an emerging and devastating shell disease affecting more than 80 percent of the wild population threatens decades of recovery progress. Known to cause lesions in a turtle’s shell, severe cases can lead to lowered fitness and even death. Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are looking at the disease from a microbial and pathological perspective to better understand its origin and the role environmental factors could play. 

Collaborative recovery efforts over the last three decades have resulted in more than 2,300 turtles being head started and self-sustaining populations re-established in two regions of the state: Puget Sound and the Columbia River Gorge. Surveys indicate that approximately 800 turtles—head started turtles and wild hatched turtles—survive and continue to thrive.

In addition to head-start efforts, WDFW and partners work to protect and restore habitat, manage invasive plant and animal species, conduct research to enhance recovery and increase public awareness regarding the plight of this species.

Western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata) help to balance local wetland ecosystems. In 1990, only about 150 western pond turtles remained in two populations in the state of Washington and the species nearly became extinct. In 1991, Woodland Park Zoo and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife joined forces to recover western pond turtles by initiating a head start program. In 1993, the state listed the western pond turtle as endangered. In 2000, Oregon Zoo joined the recovery team and, over the years, other nonprofits, government agencies and private partners have contributed to the multi-institutional conservation project. 

“Saving western pond turtles is a story of resiliency. These turtles may be small, but they are tenacious. They are indicators of wetland health, they recycle nutrients, and they are both predator and prey. It’s critical we stay on track in preserving these reptiles, so they continue to gain ground and thrive in protected wetlands,” added Sullivan.

Slow, but steady

• Turtles have existed on Earth largely unchanged for 220 million years and survived the massive extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. These ancient survivors are facing their own massive extinction crisis today with almost 50 percent of known turtle species listed as critically endangered or endangered. In fact, this incredibly diverse group of animals is going extinct faster than any other group of terrestrial vertebrates.
• The main threats to turtles are loss of suitable habitat and degradation, overhunting, competition with invasive species and the illegal pet trade. Other threats to the turtle population include invasive bullfrog predation and plants, and inappropriate ATV use.
• From observing pond turtles foraging, biologists have found that western pond turtles swallow all their food in water and appear unable to swallow food in air! 

Help save turtles and keep their local habitats clean and healthy

• Support Woodland Park Zoo and other organizations working to conserve endangered turtles.
• Never release unwanted home or classroom pets, animals, or plants into the wild, such as rivers, streams, lakes or stormwater ponds. Most unwanted pets will not survive in the wild and may suffer before death. If it does manage to survive, it may harm the environment. 
• Reduce pollutants to turtle habitat by eliminating pesticides from your gardening practices.
• Dispose of litter properly. 
• Call a rescue organization when you need to rehome aquatic pets. 
• Volunteer to clean up local habitats.