© (c) WWF / Anton VORAUER

The European pond turtle is a timid but skilled swimmer and diver. It prefers to spend most of the winter at the bottom of muddy water bodies. Yet in the summer, it likes to bask in the sun, for which pond turtles need floating branches or vegetation, such as detritus from trees cut down by beavers.



The European pond turtle is found both Europe-wide and in Northern Africa. On the Danube and the March there are the only a few remaining native populations.



Pond turtles prefer a habitat on still or slow flowing bodies of water, with a muddy bed and an abundance of aquatic plants, i.e. vegetation rich bayous in alluvial forests.



The survival of a population depends on flat lentic regions, which can be warmed by the sun, as well as poor grasslands close to bodies of water with bushy banks, warm groves and sandy hills.



Adult pond turtles are particularly threatened by human disturbances to their habitat, such as: draining of swampland and wetlands, restructuring of bodies of water, urban sprawl and destruction of egg deposition areas.



It often occurs that females are run over by vehicles, while searching for nesting areas. Turtles also fall victim to weirs used for fishing, as they get trapped and inevitably drown.