The bill's inspiration came from a first-grade class that noticed Pennsylvania lacked a state reptile. The eastern box turtle is facing population decline due to habitat loss. A species of turtle ...

as its population is declining due to habitat fragmentation. He argues that making the turtle the state reptile would significantly help with conservation efforts. Pennsylvania’s state animal is ...

HABITAT: The spotted turtle occupies a wide variety of shallow wetland habitats ... New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont and West Virginia.