YAMHILL COUNTY, Oregon — Conservationists in Oregon are racing to protect one of the state’s only native freshwater turtle species from becoming endangered.

The Northwestern Pond Turtle, a semiaquatic reptile once common in the region, is now listed as a “species of greatest conservation need” in Oregon’s Wildlife Action Plan . Biologists say habitat loss, invasive predators and illegal collection are threatening its survival.

“This is one of the species that is a priority to Oregon,” said Susan Barnes, a regional wildlife conservation biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife . “If we lose this species, that would be really sad.”

Barnes is monitoring a conservation site in Yamhill County’s Muddy Valley, where more than 500 individual turtles have been identified and

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