Native freshwater turtle populations face extinction in South Australia, scientists call for action
A new scientific study has found native freshwater turtles are on the brink of extinction in South Australia, a concern predicted 30 years ago but little action has been taken since.
First published in the Scientific Reports in Nature journal, the researchers said rapid action was needed for conservation to be effective to save the dying species.
Researcher Ricky Spencer, Associate Professor of Ecology and Zoology at Western Sydney University, said the main driver for declining turtle populations was invasive foxes preying on turtle nests, but the impacts of marine disease and water quality issues were also significant contributors.
“We see foxes destroy turtle nests and they also eat the females throughout the catchment, but in South Australia we are probably now seeing the effects of water quality catching up with it [declining turtle populations],” Dr Spencer said.
“Ten years ago, during that millennium drought, we had mass mortality events because of water-quality-related diseases such as the marine tubeworm killing freshwater turtles.
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