Endangered Manning River turtle hatchlings have been spotted in the wild for the first time since surveying for the freshwater species began in 2019.
"They are absolutely beautiful, tiny turtles … about the size of a 20-cent piece with a beautiful distinct pattern on their back," Hunter Local Land Services' (HLLS) Rye Gollan said.
"It's pretty special to find them."
Featuring a notable yellow stripe, the Australian turtle lives only in the middle and upper reaches of the Manning River catchment, near Taree, on New South Wales' Mid North Coast.
In a bid to identify key Manning River turtle refuge habitat and nesting areas, and direct conservation measures, HLLS and the MidCoast Council have spent four years surveying for the species.
Mr Gollan, a HLLS senior land services officer, said a team of ecologists recorded the first sighting of Manning River turtle hatchlings in recent weeks.
"We found three hatchlings and then a week later found another hatchling … all believed to be within a week old," he said.
The hatchlings were discovered in the upper reaches of the Manning River catchment.
"It's significant because we've been doing surveys on the species for four years and have been somewhat hampered by seasonal conditions, with drought, fires and floods," Mr Gollan said.
"Throughout these surveys we have only ever found one nest … which was found by a community member and [until now], we have never found evidence of hatchling turtles."
Discovery helps fill data gap
Manning River turtle numbers have declined significantly in recent years due to threats, including predation and habitat loss.
Dried-out rivers and poor water quality from droughts and the 2019-2020 bushfires, followed by flood events, put the species at further risk.
Mr Gollan said discovering the hatchlings would provide crucial insights.
"Finding hatchlings for the first time in four years gives us a good indication of habitat, where they are nesting and breeding successfully," he said.
"It means we can target follow-up surveys there and we can learn a bit more about their nesting and early life stage ecology."
He said there had been a "data gap" surrounding the turtles' nesting location and their threats.
"We believe there are significant threats from predation," Mr Gollan said.
"Importantly, it also guides our future management practices to best protect their habitat and ensure future survival."
Foxes and feral pigs major threats
Mr Gollan said work was also underway, in collaboration with landholders, to protect and improve the species' habitat and remove threats.
"Foxes and pigs are a key threat to freshwater turtle nests, and to adults when they leave the water to lay their eggs," he said.
"With favourable conditions following bushfires, feral pigs have experienced a massive spike in a number of priority reaches of turtle habitats."
This had negatively impacted sensitive land adjacent waterways and posed "a real risk to the success of turtle nests".
"In response, our biosecurity team has coordinated a collaborative pest control program, which has so far removed over 300 pigs in priority sub catchments," Mr Gollan said.
Turtles released into wild
A Manning River turtle captive breeding program is also underway, established by conservation organisation Aussie Ark in partnership with other conservation groups.
In October, conservationists released 10 endangered Manning River turtles back into the wild.
Mr Gollan said teams would continue surveying the Manning River catchment for turtles, with residents also encouraged to report any sightings.
Efforts were also underway to have the Manning River turtle listed as endangered federally, as well as its current NSW endangered listing.
"We will continue to do monitoring, where possible working with community groups and ecologists and researchers from universities … to try and better ascertain the distribution of the species," Mr Gollan said.
"We need the community's help. It's a big catchment and we have limited resources to survey throughout the catchment."
He said "citizen" scientists could help the team broaden its knowledge.
"So if people are out on creeks and rivers at the moment, keep an eye out for evidence of turtles and record that for us and that information can be really valuable."
