At Winton Wetlands we love our turtles, we don’t like the foxes though as they eat up to 95% of the Turtle eggs laid.

One of the main reasons for our fox control program is to protect the turtles and while it helps reduce the risks, it is not enough! So, we have partnered with some of the best scientists in the game – Assoc. Prof James Van Dyke (La Trobe Uni), Assoc. Prof Ricky Spencer (Univ. Western Sydney), Assoc. Prof Deb Bower (UNE), and Emeritus Professor Mike Thompson (Uni of Sydney) for Mike who have teamed up and gained a large ARC grant. This is allowing work to ensure practical ways, underwritten by science, to ensure turtles remain a vital part of the ecosystem at the restored habitat at Winton Wetlands.

One technique is to develop floating islands away from the ravages of foxes for turtles to lay their eggs. Our floating island with the camera at Winton Wetlands now has up to 5 turtle nests. That is somewhere around 100 eggs and all just in the past 3 days! We have another island nearby too but without a camera, so it will be also providing much needed nesting sites for the turtles. Video shows one of the female Murray short-necked Turtles laying eggs and covering over the nest!

Posted  15 November 2024