A team of biologists—including members from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Endemic Environmental Services Inc., Citrus College and San Diego Zoo Global—worked together over the last couple of weeks to find and rescue the last remaining reproductively viable population of southwestern pond turtles (Actinemys pallida) in the San Gabriel Mountains.

After being closed to guests since mid-March, San Diego Zoo Global has announced that the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park will reopen to the general public on Saturday, June 20th., ending the first major closure in the conservation organization’s 103-year history.