Southwestern Pond Turtle
Status: Threatened (population decreasing)
Scientific name: Actinemys pallida
California's only native turtle, the Southwestern Pond Turtle once thrived across San Diego's freshwater ecosystems including ponds, rivers, and streams. Unfortunately, due to habitat loss and other factors, their population is rapidly declining in nature. They share many waterways with the Southern California Steelhead and California red legged frog, so our conservation refugia efforts increase the survival odds of all three species.
Southern California Steelhead
Status: Endangered (At risk of extinction)
Scientific name: Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus
The Southern California Steelhead annual runs once numbered in the tens of thousands, but current runs are only in the single digits. The SCS, first declared federally endangered in 1997, is uniquely threatened due to its reliance on migration across our seasonally accessible rivers and streams. Impacts created by habitat degradation, man-made barrier construction such as dams, invasive species introduction, and climate change threaten their survival. Today precious few of these fish remain in the wild.
Red Legged Frog
Status: Threatened (population decreasing)
Scientific Name: Rana draytonii
The California red-legged frog is a rare amphibian endemic to the state of California. It is well-known for its feature in Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," getting its name due to the reddish color of its underside. It is the largest native frog in the western United States and now faces the same existential threats posed to the steelhead and pond turtles occupying our endangered freshwater ecosystems.