Breeding success for endangered freshwater turtles
127 endangered freshwater turtle eggs have been laid from all three of our species in our program.
Aussie Ark are celebrating this breeding success, and now two seasons' worth of hatchlings wait imminent wild release.
Conservation organisation Aussie Ark is thrilled to announce another successful breeding season for the three species of endangered freshwater turtles in its program, with Manning River, Hunter River and Bell’s Turtles all producing eggs.
To date, the egg tally is 77 Hunter River Turtles, 37 Bell’s Turtles and 13 Manning River Turtles, with a couple more gravid (egg-bearing) females still set to lay. The current grand total of 127 eggs represents a significant conservation milestone for the three species, all of whom face imminent extinction in the wild.
The turtles are housed in specialised aquaria in the Conservation Ark facility in the grounds of the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby, NSW. Adult turtles were paired up last spring and offered idyllic conditions and a diet to inspire romance, including custom-made nest boxes filled with river sand that mimic riverbank nest sites in the wild.
Over the summer, Conservation Ark rangers closely monitored all the pairs and their habitats. Clues such as displaced sand or females astride nest boxes indicated when laying had occurred. Rangers then carefully checked those nest boxes and collected each clutch.
In the wild, freshwater turtle eggs are often dug up and eaten by feral predators such as foxes and pigs. Alongside habitat destruction and climate change, this predation is a major contributor to species’ decline. Aussie Ark cuts out the ferals by incubating the eggs in a temperature-controlled incubator to maximise hatching success. Every egg is individually washed, weighed, measured, numbered and recorded in the Conservation Ark database.
Approximately two months later, the magic occurs … hatching! Aussie Ark Conservation Manager Hayley Shute describes watching this event as “amazing”.
“Turtles have been on Planet Earth for over 230 million years; that’s longer than crocodiles or dinosaurs!” Ms Shute said. “To watch them hatch is like staring back in time. They are so ancient yet so fragile.”
Ms Shute said Aussie Ark is determined to ensure a future for all three turtle species, and that every egg is a big “no” to extinction. Dozens of hatchlings are now filling the Conservation Ark aquaria, each one destined for wild release soon.
This full-circle conservation effort is a hallmark of Aussie Ark’s breeding and rewilding work, and the organisation couldn’t be happier with this season’s turtle success.
