Feds Seek to Protect Map Turtles in 4 Gulf States, Georgia

This undated photo shows a Pearl River map turtle. Cris Hagen/USGS via AP

NEW ORLEANS—The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that it is proposing threatened status for the Pearl River map turtle, seeking to grant added federal protections to an at-risk species found only in Louisiana and Mississippi.

“These native freshwater map turtles are at risk and need our help,” regional director Leopoldo Miranda-Castro said in a news release.