ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed; candidate species

PETITIONED: 2005

YEAR PLACED ON LIST: Candidate 1997

RANGE: Quitobaquito Springs in Arizona’s Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and perennial reaches of the nearby Rio Sonoyta in Sonora, Mexico

THREATS: Groundwater pumping, introduction of exotic species, agricultural pesticide use, livestock grazing, and ever-increasing human activities related to immigration enforcement

POPULATION TREND: A population of 130 Sonoyta mud turtles lives at Quitobaquito Springs. Unknown numbers inhabit the Rio Sonoyta.