Partnership Approach to Freshwater Turtle Conservation in Northern Victoria Intro to yourself and the North Central CMA BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Turtles in trouble One of the most threatened groups of vertebrates 10% of the ca. 317 currently recognised species considered critically endangered 63% of assessed species and ca. 42% of all known species considered threatened Turtles are disproportionately represented among threated vertebrate species require conservation action at the landscape scale (Boyd et al 2008 but often fall outside traditional conservation priority regions. Exploitation and unregulated trade are the primary caused for sharp declines in many species especially those in Asia with habitat loss and degradation also being major factors in widespread declines (van Dijk et al. 200, Gibbon et al. Turtle Conservation fund). Turtle Conservation fund 2002; IUCN 2008 IUCN 2008 Habitat degradation Food Pet trade Foreign predators BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY Local region intro BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

River Murray 16 weirs / dams Regulators installed to prevent floodplain inundation Reversed water flows Water extraction for irrigation and domestic use Introduced aquatic and terrestrial species Challenges to turtles BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

The three amigos! BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 Challenges to turtles BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Threats to River Murray turtles Fox is the focus with smaller images of other threats BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

River Murray turtle declines predicted 1993 86% decline predicted since the introduction of red foxes Prediction based on: High, ongoing levels of nest predation Low juvenile recruitment Demographic shifts to adult biased populations BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Turtle declines detected throughout Murray - Van Dyke et al. 2017 Heading to extinction in SA BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Implications of declines Eutrophication Food web disruption Water quality Seed dispersal Limited ability for turtles to recover due to life history traits Possible local extinctions BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Typical Survival, Growth and Reproduction Patterns 20-30 eggs per year Eggs/ Hatchlings Juveniles Adults Currently <1% of eggs and hatchlings make it to year 2 60% of juveniles survive each year. Mature at 7-10 years of age 85-100% of adults survive each year 95% nest predation because of foxes BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

What did the fox say? BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 With funding provided through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme the North Central CMA partnered with Western Sydney University to implement a range of trials to reduce the predation of turtles and their nests by foxes. Establishing fake nests using chicken and quail eggs to simulate turtle nests we have trialled the use of alternate techniques including fox lights, odour distraction, taste aversion and targeted shooting BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Conservation through awareness and involvement With funding provided through the Australian Government’s National Landcare Programme the North Central CMA partnered with Western Sydney University to implement a range of trials to reduce the predation of turtles and their nests by foxes. Establishing fake nests using chicken and quail eggs to simulate turtle nests we have trialled the use of alternate techniques including fox lights, odour distraction, taste aversion and targeted shooting BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Landholders shout out. Volunteers pitch in! Twice a year during nesting season dedicated volunteers from Turtles Australia Inc. travel to and reside in the Gunbower forest region and traverse known nesting areas searching for turtle activity. All turtle activity is recorded - fox raided nests, sightings of live and dead turtles and uploaded into TurtleSat. Many close relationships have formed between volunteers and local landholders and each year there are increasing reports from landholders witnessing nesting females on their properties seeking advice on what to do. BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Nest protection. Every one counts In the five years that Turtles Australia have been performing monitoring they have protected approximately 52 lives nests. With an average of 17 eggs per nest that’s 884 hatchlings saved from fox predation. BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Observations and records 403 turtle sightings (majority dead) and 1829 nests (mostly raided) have been recorded into TurtleSat BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

www.turtlesat.org.au BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

Events and education BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 Engaging community at over 30 events and attended including visits to schools. People love turtles and are ambassadors for change. Estimated 30,000 kms travelled to undertake monitoring and conduct events. BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA | 18 - 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 MANAGED BY