# Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered Animal?



## peterjohnson64 (Aug 24, 2006)

As a lot of you know I have recently become a member of AFTCRA.

Anyway, perhaps the biggest challenge AFTCRA has in front of us is to conserve the Mary River Turtle. If that damn dam goes ahead then we will almost certainly lose Mary River Turtles in the wild. They will soon (hopefully for their publicity benefit) be recognised as Australia's most endangered species. 

anyway, Craig Latta (on behalf of AFTCRA Inc.) has a breeding colony of these magnificent animals, which may represent around 15% of known adults in the wild at this present time

We have struck a deal whereby I will be taking one small male, (named TJ) and raising him in Sydney in my turtle pond. We will prepare a strong local media campaign to raise awareness of the plight of these animals. The intention is to eventually release this animal back with Craig's breeding stock when it matures, which will help breed more hatchlings for release. I will then raise a few more hatchlings to maturity

But we also need a lot more.

1. Lots of you would have already seen the petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/741410919
if not, please take your time to have a look and consider signing it.

2. We need more members of AFTCRA so that we can raise some more funds to help save this turtle. And who knows, other members may also get the opportunity to help raise some more of these animals to maturity for captive breeding, and aid in the release of their offspring into the wild.

3. we would also like the assistance of our members to help complete a survey of turtle numbers in the Mary River


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## olivehydra (Aug 24, 2006)

Well done Pete, hope all goes well with TJ


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## cris (Aug 24, 2006)

If i had money i would give alot to AFTCRA, but i dont  
I might get flamed a bit but i think there is possibly another potentially similar species in the gold coast hinterland, that to my knowledge hasnt been officailly recorded, could have been a released pet but yeah, ill shut up now  

I think its great that they are going to bred in captivity but what is the point releasing them if they are just going to die?

Its all good starting a media campaign in sydney but we have an election in a few weeks that decides the turtles fate and to be honest i dont think it has a chance at all


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## DanN (Aug 24, 2006)

Hey Pete,

Best way to save them is to get them into the pet trade. Im sure if the government is willing to build a dam to wipe them out then they should let people keep them as a pet.


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## junglepython2 (Aug 24, 2006)

Good work, good luck with the little guy


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## Rennie (Aug 24, 2006)

I joined up a while back too, its a good cause.


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## peterjohnson64 (Aug 25, 2006)

*Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered Anima*



cris said:


> If i had money i would give alot to AFTCRA, but i dont
> I might get flamed a bit but i think there is possibly another potentially similar species in the gold coast hinterland, that to my knowledge hasnt been officailly recorded, could have been a released pet but yeah, ill shut up now
> 
> I think its great that they are going to bred in captivity but what is the point releasing them if they are just going to die?
> ...



Cris, why do you think you will get flamed? You have offered an opinion and even given reasons. sounds pretty good to me.

And also, why do you think they will just die when released back into the river? We are talking about AFTER the dam is built. At this stage the main concern is the depth of the water knowing that they can absorb oxygen through their skin that may not be possible in deep water.

anyway, take a look at

http://www.uq.edu.au/news/index.html?article=10193 

and then you'll see why I got interested in them.


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## stencorp69 (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*



> At this stage the main concern is the depth of the water knowing that they can absorb oxygen through their skin that may not be possible in deep water



Hi Pete,

Why do you think the Mary River Turtle will perish? From what I've heard about the protests against the Mary River Dam, one of the objections to the dam is that it will be inefficient (maybe a dud) becuase of a high degree of evaporation due to its shallow depth.


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## peterjohnson64 (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*

Mate I was just going by what Nathalie said in her article and was also questioning why Cris thought they would perish as well.


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## cris (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*

I was just under the impression the dam would virtually destroy the conditions they need to live, hopefully ive misinterpreted something. 
I thought that after the dam is built the effect on the rivers flow would have an effect on this turtle due to the way it lives and breathes, If they are going to be able to live after the dam is built what is all the fuss about?


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## peterjohnson64 (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*

The fuss is that all the existing ones will die during construction so the only way to get them back in there is to start a captive breeding program. But yes, Nathalie's research does tend to agree with you that they wont survive but we need to research that more to confirm.


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## cris (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*



> The fuss is that all the existing ones will die during construction


How will they all die? im sure a few might that live near the wall but how does the construction kill the rest?

be sure to post heaps of pics when you get the little guy


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## Hickson (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*

I thought it was the turtles downstream that would die because their river would dry up.

Which brings up another question - what happens to the human population at Hervey Bay and Maryborough that rely on the Mary River for their drinking water?



Hix


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## peterescue (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*

Mary River Turtles live in the deeper pools. These will disappear when the dam is constructed.
Subsequently the turtles will die out as their habitat will have been destroyed. They could I suppose be reintroduced above the dam but whats the point after that.


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## stencorp69 (Aug 25, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Mary River Turtles - Australia Most Endangered A*



> The fuss is that all the existing ones will die during construction so the only way to get them back in there is to start a captive breeding program



Ok Got it



> They could I suppose be reintroduced above the dam but whats the point after that.



Just one point - they'll still exist


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