The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is thinking of adding some federal protections for a turtle found in Oregon. The western pond turtle is found in fresh water and wetlands west of the Cascades. It is also found in Nevada, Washington and California. If the agency’s proposal is approved, the turtle would be labeled as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Public comments are being taken until May 5, 2024.
The turtle faces a number of challenges including habitat loss, drought and invasive species, such as bullfrogs, eating turtles when they’re young. But some work has been done to try to help this reptile. The Oregon Zoo has been working on recovery efforts in Washington since the late 1990s. Shervin Hess is the conservation manager there. He joins us to share more on what role this turtle plays in ecosystems and the current efforts to aid the species.
The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:
Dave Miller: From the Gert Boyle Studio at OPB, this is Think Out Loud. I’m Dave Miller. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering adding federal protections for the western pond turtle which can be found in freshwater and wetlands in Oregon, Washington, California, and Nevada. If the agency’s proposal is approved, the turtle could be labeled as threatened or endangered. Public comments are being taken through this Sunday, May 5th. The turtle faces a number of challenges including habitat loss, drought, and invasive species. The Oregon Zoo has been working on recovery efforts for decades now. Shervin Hess is the conservation manager there. He joins us to talk about both that work and the role these turtles play in their ecosystems. It’s good to have you on Think Out Loud.
Shervin Hess: Thank you, Dave.
Miller: First of all, what does this turtle look like?
Hess: The northwestern pond turtle is sort of nondescript. If you think of an emoji of a turtle, it’s kind of like that.
Miller: So no flashy colors then?
Hess: No flashy colors, right. Sort of olive green, brownish shell, a yellowish-green head and limbs. If you get up close, they have this beautiful modeling on their neck and their head. What I think is kind of a beautiful smile if you see them up close. But from a distance, they’re sort of dark, hanging out on a log, which is actually important for their camouflage.
Miller: What do other turtles that folks might see in Oregon look like? I mean, how should we distinguish them?
Hess: So, the other native turtle is the western painted turtle and you’ll see some bright yellow stripes on that. We have an invasive turtle called the red-eared slider. They have a bright red patch kind of where you might think their ear would be. That’s the sort of turtle that you see a million of, in Central Park. So that’s the one people might often see and mistake for the western.
Miller: And those were former pets that have been released? I mean, how does an invasive turtle get here?
Hess: Pets. Yeah. So turtles live a long time. Kids love them. But providing lifelong care for a turtle is a big ask. So a lot of times people will be well meaning and release them after they decide they can’t care for them anymore. But it’s a problem because those turtles will compete with western pond turtles for resources, for food, they might spread diseases.
Miller: Where are northwestern pond turtles most likely to be found?
Hess: In slow water – ponds, lakes, slow moving streams – is where you would find them. And they kind of prefer areas with a lot of cover so in a lot of weeds on the vegetation in the water. But they also need land to nest. So they need some wooded areas nearby with nice sandy banks so that they can dig in there and lay their eggs.
Miller: What role do these turtles play in their ecosystems and their environments?
Hess: They’re omnivores. So they’re really important nutrient recyclers. They hold the balance of the wetland ecosystem in which they live so little invertebrates, but also carrion. So they kind of keep that environment clean. They’re also an important indicator species. So they’re unique because they live in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. If there’s anything going on in either of those environments, we see changes in those populations. It could be an indication that something’s wrong.
Miller: So I think the kind of classic canary in a coal mine?
Hess: Exactly.
Miller: What are their populations in the West like right now?
Hess: Well, we don’t have enough data to give hard numbers. But we know, state by state, the situation. In Washington, they’re in the worst shape. North of there, in British Columbia, they’re extinct. So they haven’t been up there since the ‘50s. In Oregon, they seem to be faring a little bit better and the same in California.
Miller: What’s putting their populations at risk?
Hess: There’s a couple of threats. Habitat loss is a big one, their wetland environment. But invasive predators are a big one, so bullfrogs mainly, and largemouth bass. They found bullfrogs with multiple hatchling turtles in their stomachs. So when these turtles hatch, they’re about the size of a quarter, the perfect snack size for a bullfrog. And they don’t stand a chance. It’s kind of tragic because these are animals that can live to be 50 or more. But if they can’t just even make it past that first little stage of life, it’s not good.
Miller: And they’re being eaten, sometimes in large numbers, by an invasive fish?
Hess: Invasive fish and an invasive frog. Bullfrogs were introduced here for food.
Miller: Right now, these turtles are labeled as “sensitive” by the state of Oregon. So their populations are sensitive. What does that mean in practice?
Hess: That designation is kind of a broad classification that says we know that they are facing significant threats and that they are in decline. As opposed to Washington, where they have a strict state endangered designation.
Miller: And you’re saying that’s not just because of the differing politics in two states, but because the populations were actually lower in Washington and that the state made the decision to actually list them?
Hess: Right. Each state agency has a different system for designating the status of a species. California is different too but yeah, in Washington they’re not faring as well as they are here in Oregon.
Miller: We’re talking right now, as I mentioned at the beginning, because right now the federal government is considering a listing under the Endangered Species Act. What would be those potential federal protections? Let’s say U.S. Fish and Wildlife does go forward with this. What kinds of protections might that entail?
Hess: It’s more resources to do conservation, essentially. What we need to do is reduce those threats that we talked about. We need to enhance the habitat. We need to figure out how to get bullfrogs out of the ecosystem. And once a species gets listed, there’s more funding to take action.
I’ll say this, the Endangered Species Act is one of the most powerful tools we have for fighting extinction. But we know that we have to have more long-game thinking here too. We need to take action before a species gets to the brink. And we see, especially in Oregon, a lot of really great proactive work with private landowners that are taking voluntary action to improve the habitat on their property. So while we know that listing could bring more resources, we know there could also be unintended negative consequences for folks that are doing some of that voluntary action.
Miller: What might change for landowners or farmers in Oregon? Like what do you see as potential unintended consequences?
Hess: With the regulation, with the increased regulation and the compliance that goes along with that, there would be less incentive to do this voluntary work.
Miller: Meanwhile, you’ve been working at the Zoo to help boost the populations of these pond turtles. Can you describe what the project is?
Hess: So, we have this awesome program. It’s called “headstarting” and this is in partnership with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Woodland Park Zoo, and we’ve been doing it for about 25 years now. We have an awesome team at the Zoo. So what happens in the wild is that biologists will be tracking females that are laying eggs. When they know that these eggs are about to hatch they’ll go collect those hatchlings before they can be gobbled up by the bullfrogs.
They’ll bring them to the Zoo and we have a conservation lab, that’s actually viewable to the public, where these little turtles will grow up in a sort of predator-free environment, essentially, to the size where they can literally no longer fit in a bullfrog’s mouth. So about a year later, we’ll take those turtles and release them back out into the wild. And it’s worked well. So in 1990 there were only two populations of turtles left in Washington. And now, because of this program, there are six. The ones that are closest to us are on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge.
Miller: How much do you know about what happens to these turtles that were raised in captivity once they’re released into the wild?
Hess: We know because they’re tagged. We know that they’re doing the right things. So they’re finding mates, they’re breeding in the wild, they’re having young in the wild. So the populations are expanding. But they still face those threats, bullfrogs, and they’re not able to expand everywhere they should be, because of the habitat loss. So the only way this is gonna work is if we’re reducing those threats in the wild at the same time as this “headstarting.”
Miller: Do you ever wonder what those turtle mothers are thinking when their hatchlings are taken away from them? I mean, the reason is noble from a human perspective. We’re trying to help these populations. But I’m also just imagining, these turtles are born and then they get snatched away?
Hess: Yeah, so thankfully, the mothers are long gone by the time these big scary biologists come and scoop them up.
Miller: So the mothers, they just leave their hatchlings?
Hess: Yeah, it’s kind of similar to sea turtles. If you’ve ever seen a documentary where they dig into the ground and lay their eggs and they’re gone
Miller: And then the sea turtle babies, hopefully they can not get eaten by a lizard?
Hess: Exactly.
Miller: OK, except in this case, it’s bullfrogs as opposed to lizards.
Hess: Bullfrogs, other natural predators too. But when you add those invasive factors, it gets really bad, really quick.
Miller: Is the idea that you just have to keep doing this work, raising and releasing these turtles until their populations are more stable?
Hess: When a state agency or Fish and Wildlife Service puts together a recovery plan, they include all the tools that we have. So headstarting, bullfrog mitigation, habitat enhancement. And the idea is to get those populations back to a point where they’re self-sustaining. It’s just a long game. It takes a long time to do that.
Miller: Shervin, thanks very much.
Hess: Thank you.
Miller: Shervin Hess is the conservation manager for the Oregon Zoo. He joined us to talk about northwestern pond turtles. The federal government right now is considering listing these turtles as threatened or endangered.
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