Appearance:
The back shell (carapace) of an adult animal can reach a length of up to 21 centimeters. The turtle’s weight can reach 1.5 kilograms. Individuals living in our northern climate are usually very dark – their shell, head, and legs are black or dark gray, decorated with tiny, yellowish spots.

Cold-blooded animal:
Like all reptiles, the pond turtle requires external heat. They lie motionless for hours and bask in the sun’s rays on tree trunks, branches, or grass clumps that rise above the water.

Long-lived and slow-growing:
The European pond turtle is truly long-lived – it can live up to 70 to 120 years. In our cool climate, they develop very slowly and only begin planning for offspring around the age of 20.

Diet:
Pond turtles are excellent swimmers and divers that hunt snails, insect larvae, water beetles, and earthworms in the water. Sometimes they also eat a frog or a small fish, but they also tend to feast on plants.

Habitat:
These turtles prefer stagnant water or a slow current. They inhabit shallow, plant-rich lakes, ponds, and beaver-flooded canals.

Wintering:
Turtles spend Latvia’s long and cold winters in hibernation. They burrow into the muddy bottom of the water body and sleep under the ice from October until the end of April or the beginning of May.

Laying eggs on land:
At the beginning of summer, females go looking for sunny, sandy hills, which can be even a kilometer away from the water. There they dig an 8-16 cm deep hole and lay 5 to 18 white eggs. The hatchlings emerge in the autumn, but most often they do not crawl out immediately – they overwinter in the nest underground and appear above ground only the following spring.

Inhabitant of the Red Data Book:
In Latvia, this species is extremely rare and included in Category 0 of the Red Data Book (extinct species), and is strictly protected throughout Europe. Currently, there is no known completely stable and large population in Latvia; mostly individual survivors are observed.

Unique genetics:
Over thousands of years, our turtles have specially adapted to the harsh northern conditions. By preserving them here, we help preserve the genetic diversity of the entire world’s species and maintain balance in our local ecosystems.

Although the pond turtle looks protected in its shell, many dangers lurk in nature:

Habitat destruction:
Drainage of ponds and swamps (melioration), mowing of banks, and deforestation deprive turtles of homes and safe places for egg-laying.  

Traffic:
Road construction fragments their territories. When migrating, turtles are slow and have no natural defense reaction against cars, so they often die on roads. 

Predators and alien species:
Eggs and hatchlings are eaten by wild boars, foxes, as well as predators introduced by humans that have multiplied in the wild – raccoon dogs and American mink. An additional threat is posed by exotic pet turtles (such as the red-eared slider), which people thoughtlessly release into the wild. They are food competitors and carry diseases that are deadly to our turtles.

Human actions:
Burning dry grass, getting caught in fishermen’s nets (where animals drown), and the deliberate illegal catching of turtles to take home are serious threats.

On a national scale, a special Species Protection Plan is in place – researchers identify habitats, adapt ponds and forest edges to the animals’ needs, and breed hatchlings in captivity (for example, at the Latgale Zoo) to later return them to the wild.