# City of Cockburn gearing up for Bibra Lake turtle nesting season



## Flaviemys purvisi (Aug 28, 2020)

*COCKBURN GAZETTE*
*Ben Smith - Cockburn Gazette
August 19, 2020
*

Efforts to preserve Bibra Lake’s native turtle population are being ramped up ahead of nesting season, with the City of Cockburn re-iterating the need to further reduce mortality rates.

The City has committed to consolidating their turtle conservation efforts in the Bibra Lake area with the 2020-21 nesting season, which runs from September to February, just around the corner.

The area’s population of threatened southwestern snake-necked turtles showed signs of slight improvement over the past year after concerted efforts from the City and the community.

City-backed research by Murdoch University PhD student Anthony Santoro found a drastic drop in incidents of nesting females being struck by vehicles, from 15 in 2018-19 and two in 2019-20.


*(L-R) Vicky Hartill, Anthony Santoro, Rachel Pearsall with Tommy the Turtle in Bibra Lake. Credit: City of Cockburn*


His research also found the number of nesting turtles killed by predators had dropped from 25 to 17 and nests found raided by predators had also reduced from 135 to 120.

But Mr Santoro said there was still much work to do and they could not afford to get complacent.

_“These are small but important gains and illustrate how much work we need to do as a community to keep the protection of these ‘near threatened’ amphibious reptiles a priority._

_“It’s also worth noting the level of mortality at Bibra Lake is likely to be happening at other Perth wetlands, which makes local survival more vital than ever.”_

Mr Santoro said due to the turtles’ long life spans, delayed sexual maturity and low hatchling survival (just 15 per cent make it back to their home wetland), it would take at least a decade to see an upward shift in Bibra Lake population numbers.


*The southwestern snake neck turtles are about the size of a 50c piece when they are born. Credit: City of Cockburn/Facebook*


His thoughts were echoed by City of Cockburn environment manager Chris Beaton, who said these efforts needed to be repeated if the turtle population was to survive and thrive long-term.

_“Ongoing research by Mr Santoro has shown marginal improvements in the survival of nesting female turtles, their nests, and hopefully their hatchlings, over the past two years,”_ he said.

_“But to see lasting results, we need to stay on the ball for the foreseeable future and bring the community with us in these efforts.”_

One of the reasons for the improvement over the past year can be put down to the City’s dedicated group of ‘Turtle Trackers’, volunteers who helped protect nests and eggs.


*Southwestern snake-necked turtle hatchling in Bibra Lake. Credit: City of Cockburn*


Mr Santoro helped establish the citizen science program, which is made up of roughly 30 volunteers and over the past year, the team successfully identified 25 nests around Bibra Lake.

Those nests were protected by cages installed by project partners Native ARC and The Wetlands Centre Cockburn to provide protection for nesting females and their eggs from predators.

Mr Santoro estimated about 50 per cent of these protected eggs hatched, with about 25 hatchlings successfully making their way to the lake.

_“Once the hatchlings make it to the water, I think they have a decent shot at making it to reproductive age,”_ he said.

_“This is why it’s very important the community join us in protecting as many of the nesting females and their nests as possible.”_

The City is set to help further protect nesting turtles with training for new volunteer Turtle Trackers, increased feral animal control in the area, improved fencing, ongoing traffic education along Progress Drive, wildlife cameras around Bibra Lake and GPS trackers to aid research movements.

For more information on how to become a Turtle Tracker, visit the City of Cockburn website.


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