Originally published Friday, August 1, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Headed for the wild at the speed of ... a turtle

An endangered western pond turtle awaits its release back into the wild Thursday at a refuge area in Lakewood, Pierce County.

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MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Once common from Mexico to Puget Sound, the western pond turtle was on the verge of extinction in 1990 in Washington. A multistate recovery project has increased their numbers, and 26 of them were released into the wild Thursday.

MIKE SIEGEL / THE SEATTLE TIMES

The 10-month-old turtles were released into a wildlife refuge area in Lakewood, Pierce County, and in Mason County.

An endangered western pond turtle awaits its release back into the wild Thursday at a refuge area in Lakewood, Pierce County.

It was one of 26 of the 10-month-old reptiles released there and at an area in Mason County by the Woodland Park Zoo and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Under the multistate Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, the turtles were collected as tiny hatchlings and brought up at the zoo until they weighed about 2 ounces each.

Once common from Mexico to Puget Sound, western pond turtles were nearly wiped out by habitat loss, disease and nonnative predators such as bass and bullfrogs.

In 1990, there were only 150 of the turtles in Washington. So far, the recovery project has helped increase the population in Washington to about 1,400.

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