Endangered Western Painted Turtles The Western Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta bellii ~ Pacific coast population) is Vancouver Island's last remaining native turtle species and, unfortunately, it is already endangered. The Western Painted Turtle has a wide distribution in western North America, including western Canada south of the 51st parallel. In British Columbia, there are two populations: Intermountain - Rocky Mountain Population in the southern interior and Pacific Coast Population in the southwest. The coastal population is found in the Lower Fraser Valley and Sunshine Coast on the mainland, and on Vancouver Island and some of the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia. The distribution of the Pacific Coast Population overlaps with the relatively densely populated and highly modified southwestern part of British Columbia, where urban development, drainage of wetlands, forestry, road building, and other human activities threaten turtle populations. The Western Painted Turtle requires wetland habitats for foraging and hibernation and suitable warm sites on land for egg-laying. Egg-laying habitats are often in short supply and a limiting factor for this species and other freshwater turtles. Western Painted Turtles can be difficult to tell apart from other introduced turtles. Typically, the plastron (bottom shell) of the Western Painted Turtle has a striking red and black pattern. The red on the bottom shell is often visible even when the turtle is basking on a log. Western Painted Turtles also have a relatively flat, smooth upper shell when compared with the Red-eared Slider (the most common introduced turtle). Turtles found on land are not lost - they are coming to or from their ground-based nests up to 300 metres from water. Only move turtles if they are in danger, and do not confine them. Western Painted Turtles are threatened by shoreline development, intensive recreational use, road mortality, and nest predation by raccoons, other predators, and/or free-roaming pets. Painted Turtles require very specific freshwater habitats that are threatened by rapid urban development. Already southern Vancouver Island has lost more than 80% of its wetlands; habitat that is critical to Western Painted Turtles and many other species. Road mortality and nest site disturbance are two other main threats. Please record and report the turtle sightings to HAT (250 995 2428 hatmail@hat.bc.ca), but do not pick up, move, or otherwise disturb the turtle unless it is in immediate danger (such as on a road). Find more info here http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/frogwatch/publications/factsheets/turtles/painted.htm