{"id":659633,"date":"2026-05-23T02:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T02:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/659633\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T02:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T02:29:13","slug":"turtle-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/659633\/","title":{"rendered":"Turtle rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

After fires and floods, Southern California\u2019s only remaining native freshwater turtle recently got a boost.<\/p>\n

Just last month, 15 southwestern pond turtle hatchlings were released into the San Gabriel River \u2014 a major milestone in an effort to restore the vulnerable turtle population.<\/p>\n

But this wasn\u2019t a typical raise-and-release scenario. <\/p>\n

These turtles\u2019 parents went on a harrowing journey before they were born.<\/p>\n

A daring rescue<\/p>\n

In early September 2020, amid a heat wave and dry weather, a tree branch hit a Southern California Edison power line, igniting the Bobcat Fire<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fire eventually scorched more than 180 square miles \u2014 mostly forest in the San Gabriel Mountains. For comparison, the 2025 Eaton Fire burned about 22 square miles.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Lights from a fire truck illuminate firefighters working the Bobcat Fire in September 2021. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Frederic J. Brown<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

As the Bobcat Fire spread, biologists grew worried. The fire was burning in the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, a biodiversity hotspot and refuge for bears and mountain lions<\/a>, the federally protected Santa Ana sucker fish and the mountain yellow-legged frog.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also home to the largest remaining \u2014 and possibly only \u2014 population of southwestern pond turtles in the entire watershed. Their exact numbers aren\u2019t known, but it\u2019s likely less than 200.<\/p>\n

What is a southwestern pond turtle?<\/p>\n

The small, shy turtles grow to about 8 inches and range from Baja California to just south of the San Francisco Bay. They spend most of their lives in streams, rivers, lakes and other watery environments. They primarily eat small insects and plant matter.<\/p>\n

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife lists them as a Species of Special Concern, and they’re being considered for federal protections under the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause this hadn\u2019t burned in decades and decades and decades, there was big concern about debris flows,\u201d said Robert Fisher, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.<\/p>\n

Scientists hoped the turtles would be able to ride out the fire itself by staying in the water, but any rain after would likely lead to a deluge of mud, trees and other burned materials. That would be akin to an avalanche for the turtles in the river, and it had the potential to wipe out the entire population.<\/p>\n

Once the flames died down, Fisher and a team of biologists, in partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and U.S. Forest Service, trekked to the home of the pond turtles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a moonscape,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n

They waded through ashy, murky waters, eventually collecting 11 adult turtles.<\/p>\n

World Turtle Day\u2019s SoCal cred<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a day for everything these days, but World Turtle Day<\/a> (May 23) has surprisingly local roots. <\/p>\n

Susan Tellem and her late husband, Marshall Thompson, coined the day in 2000 after founding a turtle and tortoise rescue 10 years earlier at their home in Malibu. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first started helping turtles, there were hardly people helping the needs of turtles,\u201d Tellem told LAist. \u201cWe decided to help educate people internationally so that turtles can live a longer and happier life.\u201d<\/p>\n

A temporary home and 15 surprises<\/p>\n

The turtles were taken to the San Diego Zoo, where the plan was to hold them until their mountain habitat recovered enough for them to return.<\/p>\n

By 2024, the San Gabriel Mountains were looking far better \u2014 biologists even found some pond turtles that survived major debris flows.<\/p>\n

But right before the turtles were set to go back home, scientists got a surprise.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust before we were getting to release, we found a baby turtle, which is amazing,\u201d said Brandon Scott, wildlife care manager of herpetology and ichthyology at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. \u201cYou don’t know how long it’s going to take to restart that process of them actually being able to breed, with the stress and it’s a new habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A juvenile southwestern pond turtle is weighed before being released to the wild. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Ken Bohn<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Courtesy San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

The turtles and the new baby were all returned to their home in the San Gabriels. But then came another surprise. And another.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just continually, every day, started finding a baby in that habitat,\u201d said Scott.<\/p>\n

Female southwestern pond turtles lay and bury their eggs in late spring or early summer. Juveniles emerge months later, only about the size of a quarter.<\/p>\n

Fifteen babies later, conservation staff were shocked and pleased.<\/p>\n

Their goal for the 11 rescued turtles was to make sure they could thrive before being released back into their habitat. \u201cBut in the process,\u201d Scott said, \u201cyes, we made it comfortable enough for them to breed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A hopeful release<\/p>\n

The new generation of southwestern pond turtles was released in April near the spot their parents were rescued from in the San Gabriel River.<\/p>\n

Such rescues of vulnerable wildlife are becoming increasingly common<\/a> in the face of more catastrophic fires. All but two of the biggest fires in recorded history have been in the last 20 years.<\/p>\n

Fisher said a similar rescue of pond turtles had occurred only once before, after the 2009 Station Fire in the San Gabriels. That time, the turtles were quickly returned to their habitat.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A staff member of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance releases a juvenile southwestern pond turtle into the San Gabriel River. <\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Ken Bohn<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Courtesy San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

That rescue, in part, inspired the U.S. Geological Survey to work with the San Diego Zoo to build a conservation habitat for southwestern pond turtles nearly two decades ago. And the Bobcat Fire became the first time it was used for wild rescues, Fisher said.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the Bobcat Fire could eventually help the local population, Fisher said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve known about [the population] for decades, but it\u2019s not really thriving,\u201d he said. \u201cSo this helped give it a head start. And because the fire was so intense, it opened up a lot of habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

With less tree canopy and more sunlight, the cold-blooded reptiles could thrive in warmer waters and on sunnier rocks.<\/p>\n

Threats to southwestern pond turtles<\/p>\n

Southwestern pond turtles have lived here for millennia, but invasive species and habitat destruction have nearly wiped them out. They\u2019re currently being considered for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n

Nonnative turtles \u2014 such as red-eared sliders, many of which are abandoned pets \u2014 are outcompeting them in their habitats. And native pond turtle hatchlings are easy prey for invasive animals such as bullfrogs and crayfish.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On top of that, pollution in our atmosphere is driving longer, hotter droughts, which dries out the streams and rivers where they live. Worsening \u201cweather whiplash\u201d means more dangerous mudflows after fires, which can wipe out entire aquatic animal populations.<\/p>\n

But the new generation is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the site was so forested and hadn\u2019t burned in so long, we don\u2019t think they were having good success at breeding,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cNow we think we\u2019ve really enhanced the population by putting more animals out there, especially young animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scott and Fisher said the saga has inspired preliminary conversations about formalizing breeding efforts to support the population. The little turtles’ myriad threats have yet to let up, so they\u2019ll likely need more help in the future.<\/p>\n

But at the moment, there\u2019s a little more hope \u2014 at least 16 hatchlings and 11 adults’ worth of hope, to be exact \u2014 for California\u2019s only native freshwater turtle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After fires and floods, Southern California\u2019s only remaining native freshwater turtle recently got a boost. Just last month,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659634,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-659633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}