Turtles endemic to WA that have long been under threat now face their biggest challenge yet, as drying wetlands force them to travel into the path of predators and traffic.
About 100 southwestern snake-necked turtle s endemic to WA have been found dead at Bibra Lake.The City of Cockburn has extended its fox management program, with other conservation options being explored.
Vets have been assessing the bodies and shell fragments, with 96 so far determined to have been killed by foxes during migration attempts.Dr Anthony Santoro from Murdoch University, who is project lead on the Saving Our Snake-Necked Turtles Project, said the deaths represented around 10 to 15 per cent of the Bibra Lake's southwestern snake-necked turtle population.
"It's likely not going to be an isolated event, there's lakes dry throughout Perth, there's foxes everywhere so this is likely happening at multiple lakes and will continue to happen in the future as we continue to dry and there continue to be foxes.Dr Santoro said this particular species was endemic to WA – their habitat known to run from Jurien Bay down to Albany – and were vital to the local biodiversity in which they are found.
"It's like the wolves over in Yellowstone , so when you lose them everything below kind of gets out of control." "Wetlands dry naturally, but they're dry too much and so that's going to have a massive impact on the flora and fauna. "I know the Cockburn council have been implementing their fox program but it's quite a layered issue. There needs to be concerted efforts with other local governments, and the state government, as well and it needs to be properly funded," she said.City of Cockburn environmental education officer Vicky Harthill said the city was dedicated to turtle conservation."We do fox control management and we work with our surrounding land managers with their fox control program.
Wa News Turtle Deaths Perth Turtle Snake-Necked Turtle Endangered Turtles Perth Wetlands Heatwave Perth Weather Bibra Lake Wetland Endangered Species
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