PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed
PETITIONED: 2012
RANGE: Southern Washington, Oregon, California, introduced to western Nevada; the northern western pond turtle is found north of San Francisco and includes populations found in the Central Valley and further north, while the southern western pond turtle is found south of San Francisco on the central coast, and includes populations as far south as the Mojave River and Mexico
THREATS: Habitat loss and fragmentation, dam construction, disease, invasive species, overutilization, predation, climate change
POPULATION TREND: Although western pond turtles are found all along the West Coast, both species have suffered an overall reduction in their population sizes, with much of this loss irreversible. Historically their range reached into British Columbia, Canada, but today no Canadian populations exist. These turtles' most abundant population lives within the Trinity River watershed, where the majority of recent studies have taken place. Total population estimates are between 10,000 to 1 million individual turtles (of both species).
