SEATTLE — Twenty-four western pond turtles recently graduated from the Woodland Park Zoo’s head start program and were released into the wild at a local protection site.
The head start program started in 1991 and is the state’s longest running species reintroduction project. The western pond turtle was listed as endangered in Washington state in 1993.
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Since 1991, more than 2,300 turtles have been head started and self sustaining populations have been re-established in the Puget Sound and the Columbia River Gorge.
Officials said surveys show that 800 to 1,000 of the released turtles have survived and continue to thrive.
“Woodland Park Zoo and other partners have been essential in the key stage of raising the turtles and helping to bring this species back from the brink,” said Hannah Anderson, WDFW Diversity Division Manager. “With invasive species, low reproductive rates, and real challenges from habitat loss and disease, it is good to know caring organizations like Woodland Park Zoo are working alongside us through their head start program to bring this once prevalent species back to Puget Sound and other areas around Washington.”
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