Turtle Conservancy

05/29/2026

🐣 What’s that attached to this red footed tortoise hatchling? It’s the yolk sac, a built in source of nutrients that helps fuel the first days of life.

05/28/2026

Feet pics anyone? 🦶 We thought the Southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) and its little works of evolutionary engineering deserved their own post.

Covered in heavy scales, sharp claws, black speckling, and sometimes cream or yellowish coloration, they’re perfectly adapted for gripping rocks, digging into mud, climbing stream banks, and moving through dense aquatic vegetation.

This species can be found in ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, marshes, and even irrigation ditches with abundant vegetation and rocky or muddy bottoms. In streams, they prefer deeper pools and rely on logs, rocks, and exposed banks for basking. Some have even been observed entering brackish water and seawater.

Which Southwestern pond turtle foot makes you feel the most? 😆

05/26/2026

Besos 💛🐢

05/24/2026

05/23/2026

We just love them so much 🐢 Here’s a Southwestern pond turtle (Actinemys pallida) doing its thing in the Sespe Wilderness

05/23/2026

Happy World Turtle Day! 🐢

Today, Turtle Conservancy President & CEO Eric Goode shares a message on the importance of protecting turtles and tortoises alongside one of the world’s rarest species, a 70 to 80 year old Ploughshare Tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora).

Among the most threatened groups of vertebrates on Earth, turtles and tortoises face growing pressures from habitat loss, wildlife trafficking, and environmental change.

Follow along throughout the year for conservation updates, species spotlights, field work, and stories from across our programs.

05/22/2026

Why aren’t more people collecting rainwater?

This is the question Marcel Phoenix, winner of the 2nd Annual Local Hero Award, is asking.

Presented in honor of conservationist John Broesamle’s legacy of environmental leadership and mentorship, and made possible through the support of the Turtle Conservancy, the Local Hero Award recognizes young people creating solutions for environmental challenges in the Ventura and Santa Clara River watersheds.

Through H2Ojai, Marcel has installed artist painted rain barrels throughout Ojai to inspire people to rethink how we capture and use water in a drought prone community.

But rainwater harvesting is also part of a much larger shift. As climate change, aging infrastructure, and political instability place increasing pressure on centralized systems, communities are looking for smaller, more resilient solutions.

Think of it like rooftop solar, but for water.

Big problems do not always need one big solution. Sometimes they need 10,000 small ones.

When homes become even partially self sufficient, entire communities become more resilient. Sustainability should not be a separate industry. It should just be how we live.

Learn more at H2Ojai.org, and if you’re local, keep an eye out for the rain barrels already appearing around Ojai. 💧

05/20/2026

Happy hump day!

Don’t forget this Saturday is world turtle day

05/20/2026

🐢 TURTLE ID CHALLENGE 🐢

To celebrate World Turtle Week leading up to World Turtle Day, we’re putting your turtle ID skills to the test.

Can you correctly identify every turtle and tortoise in this post? 👀

Here’s how to enter:

1. Comment your guesses below
2. Subscribe to our newsletter through the link in bio
3. We’ll randomly select one winner from the correct entries announced in our newsletter

The winner will receive a very special Turtle Conservancy merch prize. 🐢

Bonus points for scientific names. Good luck.

05/18/2026

WANNA PLAY A GAME? 🤡
Swipe to build your life as a turtle and reveal your species at the end.

Each turtle featured represents a species protected through Turtle Conservancy conservation programs around the world. Happy Turtle Week! 🐢