PACIFIC POND TURTLE
ZOE GILLIGAN
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CURATED BY ZOE GILLIGAN
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ECOLOGY / SCIENCE FIFTH PERIOD MR. COREY
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THE PACIFIC **WHAT YOU NEED TO
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-> Scientifically known as “actinemys marmorata”, the Pacific Pond Turtle is a reptile extirpated from the British Columbia region of Canada. -> This species has not officially been seen in Canada since 1959, therefore it is extirpated.
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-> The rest of its kind can now mostly be found in California, but in Washington and Oregon as well.
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-> The Pacific Pond Turtle’s shell is adorned with a marble pattern.
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-> Its size is accepted as a medium/regular one. -> Both males and females have very similar sizing proportions.
-> Its color palette consists of olive, dark brown, black, and possibly some yellow and gray hues. -> They are shy creatures and have excellent eyesight.
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-> This species resides in lethargic streams, wide rivers, and sloughs.
POND TURTLE -> These bodies of water are normally rocky and mud-filled. -> To escape predators, Pacific Pond Turtles seek deep pools and large, leftover shlock from the woods.
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-> These turtles can survive seasonal droughts apparently through moving to pools and laying idle in the mud.
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-> While females tend to have more of a vegetation diet and the males tend to be more carnivorous, they both are omnivores because their diets consist of plants and algae to fish and snakes.
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EXTIRPATION! ! verb | ex·tir·pate | \ˈek-stər-ˌpāt\!
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to destroy or remove (something) completely; to pull up something by the root; to cut out something by surgery.
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! ! ! ! -> The Pacific Pond Turtle is extirpated. -> It, as a whole species, still exists, but it can no longer be found in British Columbia. -> Why? It was prime prey for reaping of food in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; hence a mammoth drop in population. -> Also, their habitat is continually ruined because of North America’s high agricultural and urban demands.
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Threats to the Pacific Pond Turtle: !
-> urban growth (i.e. residential development, which equals loss of habitat) -> agriculture and aquaculture (irreversible loss of habitat) -> public transportation (loss of habitat) -> commercial exploitation -> human intrusions -> human water usage (modifying their water to adapt to our needs) -> pollution -> global warming (climate change)
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What’s Being Done?! ! -> Bringing the Pacific Pond Turtle back to British Columbia is dependent on the success of Washington stabilizing their own.
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-> They would achieve translocation from WA to BC, and establish a natural, secure population enterprise on the coast once again.
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-> As this all depends on WA, their current recovery efforts include: -> habitat acquisition -> enhancement -> surveys -> toxicology research -> reducing mortality with young turtles -> predator removal -> translocations
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-> Thus far, all has been successful, even though they haven’t quite stabilized a self-sustaining population.
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-> Recovering and stabilizing those populations could lead to an organic recolonization in BC.
SOURCES! !
IMAGES
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-> http://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default.asp? lang=En&n=664296DD-1 -> http://www.zoochat.com/39/pacific-pond-turtle-89818/ -> http://hikingwithhank.weebly.com/sunol-12013.html -> http://wardial.me/~rsandelin/Fieldguide/Animalpages/ Reptiles/Reptiles.htm -> http://www.turtleforum.com/forum/upload/?showtopic=33393 -> http://www.naherp.com/photo.php?v_id=3510 -> http://www.streamteam.info/localstreams/wildlife/ amphibian/pondturtle/ -> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr__Oregon_Department_of_Fish_%26_Wildlife__5160_western_pond_turtle_swart_odfw.jpg -> https://pnwfieldguide.wikispaces.com/Western+Pond+Turtle http://hikingwithhank.weebly.com/sunol-12013.html
! ! ! WORDS !
-> Government of Canada (2015, March 15). Recovery Strategy for the Pacific Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) in Canada - 2015 - [Proposed]. Retrieved from http:// www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/default.asp? lang=En&n=664296DD-1
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-> Government of Canada (2015, May 25). Species Profile: Pacific Pond Turtle. Retrieved from http:// www.sararegistry.gc.ca/species/speciesDetails_e.cfm? sid=710
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-> Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia Ministry of Environment (2007, October 30). Western (Northern Pacific) Pond Turtle. Retrieved from http:// www.bcreptiles.ca/turtles/westernpond.htm