Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Zoo officials are getting ready to release 55 endangered turtles in the Columbia River Gorge.  Pete Springer was there as the turtles were weighed to see if they’re big enough to be in the wild.

A crowd of mostly kids pressed against the glass exhibit at the zoo to watch the weighing of the endangered Western pond turtles.

Most of the turtles are about four inches long. 

Amy Cutting is a senior zoo keeper.  She says the turtles are the size of a quarter when they hatch, which makes them easy prey.

Amy Cutting: “By keeping them here for ten months, we can actually grow them up to the size of a three-year-old turtle, and the scientists believe we have about 95-percent survivorship on these head-started turtles.  So if we get them past that vulnerable stage, it really helps boost the population.”

As part of a cooperative effort with federal and state wildlife officials, the zoo has been raising and releasing endangered Western pond turtles for the last eight years.

Wildlife officials count the turtles in Washington state.

When the release started, there were only 150 of the turtles.

Today, that number is estimated at fourteen-hundred. 

But wildlife officials say Western pond turtles still face a number of challenges in the wild -- including loss of habitat, and competition from illegally released pet turtles.