Northwestern Pond Turtle Rehabilitation Program
The northwestern pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) is a state listed endangered species and one of only two native turtles in Washington State. Some adult turtles in the wild are struggling with a shell disease. The cause of this disease is unknown, but it appears treatable. The partnership to care for these turtles includes Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), veterinarians at Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), Woodland Park Zoo (supporting Cedar Creek’s program), and Oregon Zoo.
Program Partners
A northwestern pond turtle poses for a picture moments before being released back into the wild. Photo by SPP Staff.
A technician prepares to weight a northwestern pond turtle during the program coordinator’s weekly visit. Photo by SPP Staff.
Northwestern Pond Turtle Program Description
The Northwestern Pond Turtle Rehabilitation Program is a 10-credit Ecological Conservation course that educates participants on the fundamentals of turtle husbandry, life history, morphology, Ecological Conservation, animal behavior, habitat, ecology, and threats to species recovery. Program participants help rehabilitate individual state-endangered turtles from a debilitating shell disease. Turtles receive veterinarian treatment prior to being transferred to the program for longer-term care and monitoring. Once sufficiently healed, turtles are released back to the wild.
Specialist Responsibilities:
Turtle Specialists are responsible for meeting daily needs of the program and work closely with WA Corrections staff and SPP Evergreen graduate students to maintain high program standards. Specialists are expected to demonstrate subject matter expertise, autonomy, and accountability. The program requires detailed, technical work, contact with partners and the public, and performing scientific trials. Training within the program fosters each specialist’s ability to work as a member of a team to accomplish tasks and responsibilities, perform turtle rehabilitation protocols, and practice adaptive management when encountering program challenges
A technician prepares to weight a northwestern pond turtle during the program coordinator’s weekly visit. Photo by SPP Staff.
A NWPT is swabbed for shell disease testing prior to release. Photo by SPP Staff.
A turtle technician records data on the size of each turtle prior to release with WDFW partners. Photo by SPP Staff.
Course Learning Objectives:
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Demonstrate husbandry knowledge through effective care and monitoring of northwestern pond turtles.
- Demonstrate understanding of basic turtle morphology through effective daily health inspections, weekly measurements, and associated data collection.
- Document results of various husbandry and care methodologies.
- Contribute to data collection, data analysis, procedure development, and revisions.
- Demonstrate competence using laboratory equipment including digital thermometers, digital scales, aquarium equipment, etc.
- Describe turtle, wetland, and introductory ecology topics including northwestern pond turtle life history, habitat, Ecological Conservation, anthropogenic influences, and shell disease.
- Demonstrate ability to maintain mealworm breeding as a turtle food source.
- Apply knowledge of program procedures to effectively rehabilitate turtles.
- Interpret behavioral observation and measurement data to maintain turtle health.
- Provide written and oral reflection of program experiences.
- Analyze literature related to Ecological Conservation biology, herpetology, and animal husbandry.
- Demonstrate effective and efficient communication through successful
teamwork, active participation, outreach, reporting, and problem solving. - Program Requirements/Course Structure
Program Requirements & Course Structure:
The SPP Program Coordinator supports and facilitates education and training prior to receiving turtles and throughout the duration of turtle care. Program participants complete at least 250 hours of experiential learning through hands-on turtle care and at least 12 hours of academic education. Each education and training session takes from 1 to 4 hours to complete.
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