Lakewood, WA —On Friday, August 13th, 2021 from 10:00 – 11:30 AM PT, during “Western Pond Turtle Recovery Week,” Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) will join Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Woodland Park Zoo in releasing 35 juvenile western pond turtles to a protected recovery site. The western pond turtles (Actinemys marmorata)—one of only two turtle species native to the state of Washington – were hatched and reared at the zoo under the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary of recovery.
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WHAT: |
Western Pond Turtles Being Released to the Wild |
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WHO:
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Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland (WA-10) Washington State and Pierce County elected officials Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Fred Koontz Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Woodland Park Zoo staff |
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WHEN: |
Friday, August 13th from 10:00 – 11:30 AM PT |
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WHERE: |
Recovery site located in Lakewood, WA. For directions, contact the zoo’s PR staff at woodlandparkzoopr@zoo.org by August 12th at 5 PM PT. The release site is not publicized in order to protect the sensitive habitat. |
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NOTE: |
*If you are a member of the media interested in attending, please RSVP to katrina.martell@mail.house.gov. |
Each year, under the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists collect the turtle eggs from the wild. The eggs hatch at Woodland Park Zoo where the hatchlings can grow in safety and are given a head start on life under the care of the zoo. Unlike turtles in the wild, the hatchlings are fed throughout the winter; by summer they are nearly as big as 3-year-old turtles that grew up in the wild. Once the turtles reach about 2 ounces—a suitable size to escape the mouths of non-native predatory bullfrogs—they are returned to protected sites in their native habitat to experience the next chapter of their lives: living in protected wetlands where they can submerge in vegetation, bask on logs, swim among mud banks, and dine on insects, amphibians and aquatic plants. Here, they are monitored by biologists. In “shellebration” of 30 years of collaborative efforts to restore the population in Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee has proclaimed August 8–14, 2021 as “Western Pond Turtle Recovery Week.”
Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland serves as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and is the only African-American woman who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. She is one of the first Korean-American women elected to Congress and the first African-American to represent the Pacific Northwest at the federal level.
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