Alert for pest turtle around Port Pirie

[Flaviemys purvisi]

OCTOBER 5 2018
Greg Mayfield


COLOURFUL: The turtle.


Residents have been asked to watch for a marauding red-eared slider turtle that could pose a threat to other species.

The trachemys scripta elegans turtle was spotted on the streets of North Beach, Wallaroo, but may have travelled farther afield.

It competes with local turtles for food and eats their young.

Originally from Mexico, the south-eastern United States and parts of Central America, the turtle is an alert pest animal in South Australia because of its ability to quickly adapt to the environment, breed prolifically and spread rapidly.

Natural Resources Northern and Yorke landscapes ranger Janet Moore said that as well as carrying diseases that could infect native turtles, the invader aggressively competed with native species for food and basking sites and could hamper native turtle breeding by competing for nesting sites and eating hatchlings.

The Port Pirie Regional Council put out an alert about the turtle. The creature has broad red or orange stripe behind each eye and narrow yellow stripes marking the rest of the head and legs as well as yellow patterning on its dome-shaped shell. People who keep, import or trade the pest turtles face a $50,000 fine or a year’s jail. Report any turtles to the Pest Alert Hotline 1800 084 881, PIRSA Biosecurity SA on 08 8303 9620 or the Clare Natural Resources Centre on 08 8841 3400.

 

[Sdaji]

These have popped up many times in many places across a wide area of Australia over several decades. Unfortunately I think it's inevitable that they will become fully established over most of the country (including waterways in the arid regions) eventually. Pretty much everywhere outside Australia is overrun by them, and if they're here they're going to go crazy, it's just a matter of time. It's a great shame since there's really no good reason for anyone to want to keep them in Australia in the first place - Australia has plenty of brilliant turtles which pose no danger, and sliders should just have no collector value to anyone, being so common, generic and, I assume, having no commercial value. I'm guessing there are probably already areas with well established slider populations which people just haven't noticed yet; the vast majority of people would just assume they were a normal turtle. Once they get into any river system they'll be virtually impossible to eliminate.