Seattle zoo turtles face final survival test

• Those making weight —typically about 2 ounces — will be released into protected wetlands next month.

See for yourself: Visitors can watch the weigh-ins from 10am to noon at the zoo while learning more about wildlife recovery initiatives.

Why it matters: Western pond turtles — one of only two freshwater turtle species native to the Pacific Northwest — nearly disappeared from Washington by the 1990s, according to the zoo.

Catch up quick: The turtles can live 50 to 70 years but take more than a decade to reach adulthood.

• Woodland Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife launched a recovery effort 30 years ago to collect eggs from wild nests and release the hatchlings once they're large enough.
• Over time, the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project has become one of Washington's longest-running wildlife recovery projects and is widely credited with helping prevent the threatened turtle from disappearing.

By the numbers: More than 2,300 western pond turtles have been raised and released through the campaign, according to project data

• About 800 are known to have survived, helping re-establish self-sustaining populations in Puget Sound and the Columbia River Gorge.