Woodland Park Zoo To Release Endangered Turtles Into The Wild

SEATTLE, WA — Next month the Woodland Park Zoo will be releasing 29 turtles into the wild in an attempt to help support an endangered turtle population.

The western pond turtle is a species native to the Puget Sound area, but their habitat stretches all the way through western Oregon and into Baja California. Unfortunately, they are also endangered, so in 1991 Washington launched the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project to boost their chances of survival.

Under that program, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife collect several western pond turtle eggs in late summer— which are then given to the Woodland Park Zoo and Oregon Zoo who raise the turtles until they're ready to survive on their own in the great outdoors.

The zoo says this gives the turtles a critical head start to help them survive.

"Due to the fact that wild turtles don’t feed in the winter, they become active in the ponds at a very small size and are easily predated on," said Kevin Murphy, animal curator for the Woodland Park Zoo. " Head-started turtles are fed all year and so when released, are less likely to be predated on just because of their larger size."

Now that the turtles weigh a hearty 2 ounces, the zoo says they're ready to hack it in nature. The turtles are now being checked, measured, and marked for identification before they are released into the wild next month.

Once released their lives will not be easy ones: they face danger from invasive bullfrog species, pollution, loss of habitat, and an emerging shell disease. Plus, they have to survive to 10 to 12 years old in order to have babies, a long time for a species already in trouble.

But experts say, this program is working to bring the turtles back from the brink: before recovery efforts began, scientists in 1990 estimated there were just 150 western pond turtles alive in the wild. Now, in the 29 years since the turtle rescue program was launched, zoos have raised and released more than 2,300 western pond turtles into the wild, of which around 800 to 1,000 are still alive and thriving.

Here's to hoping these 29 turtles join them in thriving in their journey ahead.

Learn more about the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project.