Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Pond Turtle Shell Disease topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Officials pause pond‑turtle reintroductions as fungal shell disease complicates recovery
Summary
Presenters told the wildlife committee that Northwestern pond turtles have recovered from near‑extirpation to more than 1,000 animals at six sites but that a fungal‑associated shell disease discovered circa 2012 (with evidence back to 2003) has halted reintroductions and prompted CT imaging, surgical treatment trials, microbiome research and an immunogenetic study.
At the June 11 Wildlife Committee meeting Dr. Hayman presented the history and current management response to fungal‑associated shell disease affecting the Northwestern pond turtle. He told commissioners the recovery program was a conservation success — captive founders grew into more than 1,000 turtles at six reintroduction sites — but that shell disease has constrained further reintroduction work.
"We now think we have over 1000 turtles at 6 sites here in Washington," Dr. Hayman said, and he explained that discovery of a shell disease around 2012 led the agency to pause many reintroductions while it investigates causes and management tools.
The department has associated the disease with a fungus (presented during the briefing as Imidemyces testivarins) and described steps underway: CT scanning to guide surgical debridement of lesions; pre‑ and post‑debridement antifungal baths; a head‑start program using partners (examples given included in‑state and out‑of‑state zoo partners) that has been paused for reintroductions to avoid spreading the fungus; and microbiome and immunogenetic research to inform captive rearing practices and potential genetic susceptibility.
Dr. Hayman said photographic review suggests the fungus was present in turtle populations as early as 2003 and that the department cannot yet quantify the pathogen’s impact on survival or reproduction. Because captivity appears associated with higher fungal loads in some cases, the agency is studying rearing environments to reduce fungal exposure and is testing whether genetic differences might influence disease susceptibility; those findings would directly inform whether and where disease‑free reintroductions are possible.
Commissioners were briefed on field and lab actions (surveillance for the fungus on the landscape, surgical and treatment trials, and collaborative research) and on the caution that reintroductions remain paused until the agency can avoid unintentionally moving the pathogen between sites.
