KEIZER, Ore. (AP) — Biologist Jay Schleier spoke softly on his latest survey near a pond in Keizer Rapids Park, hoping not to scare off the Western pond turtles he was trying to spot.
"Sometimes you'll see their heads sticking above the water. This time of year, though, they need to thermal-regulate, so they sit on logs or on the banks and soak up sun," said Schleier, a wildlife biologist for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.
Biologists are looking for ways to save the Western pond turtle, one of just two native turtle species in Oregon. The state lists the turtle as a "sensitive species," because its habitat is disappearing and its young are not surviving.
Rebecca Goggans, an Oregon State University wildlife biologist who has worked on Western pond turtles since 1990, has seen the decline of the species in the Willamette Valley.
"Basically, the population is not as connected as it used to be," Goggans said. "They've been hit by roads (being built), so there are not good migration corridors. A small population that is isolated is a classic prescription for going extinct."
About 70 turtles live near the Luckiamute River in the central Willamette Valley, but like other populations, they mostly are older adults.
"A lot of work here is focused on nesting," said Ray Fiori of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, who has helped to manage the site.
The turtles usually nest during the first week of June, but a lack of funding for scientific monitoring has left wildlife biologists with little data about the Luckiamute River turtles.
In 2003, about 13 nests were found, but no hatchlings made it. In 2004, one discovered nest had hatchlings.
In Washington, the turtle is a state endangered species. They numbered as few as 100 in the early 1990s, said David Shepherdson, a conservation scientist with the Oregon Zoo.
A partnership was formed 15 years ago between the state wildlife agency and Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo — and later the Oregon Zoo — to raise baby turtles in captivity until they are large enough to survive on their own.
Now 15 years, the population has grown to more than 1,000.
"It's been very successful in Washington," Shepherdson said. "We've increased their numbers by a factor of 10. We are looking to re-establish one more population."
While captive rearing is a possibility on Oregon if the population continues to drop, Groggans said the program is far from ideal.
"It's a last-ditch effort," she said. "You want to be proactive and work with habitat and predators in advance. Any time you do captive rearing — it's expensive and there are genetic issues."
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