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Vote “turtles” and help save a species

Posted by: Kate Neville, Development

Here’s your chance to help us save endangered turtles—all you have to do is cast a vote!
Woodland Park Zoo has been selected as one of three local conservation organizations to participate in the 2009 Patagonia Voice Your Choice Program.

From September 24 through October 24, customers at the downtown Seattle store will learn more about each of the three selected organizations. Customers can then vote for their favorite organization.

Grants will be awarded based on the voting—First place: $2,500, Second place: $1,500, and Third place: $1,000.

Proceeds from this program will go to Woodland Park Zoo's Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, a collaborative, grass-roots effort to restore Western pond turtle populations in Washington state. Funds will help cover the costs of Woodland Park Zoo's headstarting program, in which baby turtles are reared in captivity, then released into the wild when they are large enough to be safe from predators.


Western pond turtles were on the verge of extinction in Washington in 1990, with only a mere 150 turtles left in the wild. Thanks to the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, we’ve helped boost the population of the species to about 1,500 in Washington state. Now we’re asking for your help to grow this successful conservation effort even more and keep hope alive for this endangered species.

Come visit us at our in-store zoo booth at Patagonia, October 3 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. and October 4 from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Busy that weekend? No problem—you can come to the store to cast your vote any day between September 24 and October 24. You can even return the next day and vote again; only one vote per day please.

(Patagonia is located in downtown Seattle at 2100 First Ave. For store hours and directions, call (206) 622-9700 or visit them online.)

Comments

Anonymous said…
I saw on your Facebook that last year a group of kids helped release the turtles back into the wild. How did they get to do that? Would I be able to do that?
Seven-and-a-half year old Harrison Keyser took it upon his own to raise funds through a "Turtle Trot" at his school and donated more than $300 earned to the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project. To reward his efforts, he and his sisters and parents were invited to meet and release turtles this year.