Conservationists 'Shaking With Excitement' as Rare Turtle Lays Eggs

A female member of an endangered species of turtle has laid eggs for the first time since being rescued, much to the delight of conservationists.

The lucky Manning River turtle is part of a captive breeding program in Australia that started in 2019 in the hopes of saving the dwindling species from extinction. Now, conservationists at the animal conservation organization Aussie Ark and the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales' Central Coast region are thrilled that the program's first eggs are being laid, telling radio station ABC Mid North Coast that they were "shaking with excitement."

"To see where they come from to now...laying eggs that will eventually be little turtles that go back into the wild, it's just an incredible feeling," Hayley Shute, a conservation manager at Aussie Ark, told the station.

The Manning River turtles, also known as Manning River snapping turtles or Manning River saw-shelled turtles, are endemic only to the Manning River in New South Wales. Many of these turtles were rescued during the Australian summer of 2019-2020, during which intense wildfires threatened thousands of species of native animals. Manning River turtles were living in pools in the river, which were rapidly shrinking because of the blaze, and this led to their rescue by Aussie Ark, along with a handful of wild eggs.

"The Manning River Turtle is only found in the Manning River of NSW and its tributaries. So it is incredibly vulnerable to any changes in the river system or its environs, such as drought and fire," Toni Houston from Aussie Ark told Newsweek. "It is unknown how many continue to live in the wild, and it is classified as critically endangered. Manning River Turtles were rescued during the Black Summer fires of 2019 because the river had dried extensively, leaving huge tracts of the riverbed without water, and only muddy hot pools for the turtles to shelter in. Many turtles died in the drought and fire season, from exposure and heat. So Aussie Ark searched the river bed and these drying pools to find any surviving adults, to rehabilitate in our Conservation Ark facility."

The species is listed as Data Deficient on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, but they are considered endangered in Australia, according to the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Their populations are declining because of high levels of predation, mostly by foxes and pigs.

"Wild female Manning River turtles dig into the riverbank to lay their eggs, and then cover the eggs with sand. The mothers do not care for the eggs or young, and the sand and its temperature gestates the egg. Sadly, exotic pigs and foxes dig up the eggs and eat them, and foxes and feral cats will also predate on the baby turtles when they emerge," Houston said.

A number of turtles have been released back into the wild by Aussie Ark since their rescue, but this marks the first time that the program's conservationists have seen a turtle lay eggs.

"So many things need to be perfect to encourage these ancient reptilians to breed! This includes water quality, perfectly suitable food, and providing artificial nest sites that best replicate wild sites, that female turtles will accept for egg laying. All this requires a huge amount of expertise, and round-the-clock monitoring," Houston said. "Staff must also monitor external weather events which trigger behaviour in the turtles for example heat, humidity and rainfall...and adjust care accordingly."

After the conservationists made efforts to get the turtles to breed, one month ago four of the females were found to be gravid, or pregnant with eggs.

"We've been checking our females day and night...and we were nervously awaiting her laying," Shute said. "Over the past week, the high humidity, rain and heat [have] been perfect turtle laying weather.... She laid those eggs just like clockwork."

One morning, the conservationists discovered that one of the females had laid a clutch of 12 eggs in the sand in their nest box. Shute said it was an amazing feeling when she checked the nest box sand and discovered the dozen eggs.

"There was a little mound which we hadn't seen before.... We went in and really carefully started pushing the sand aside," she said. "Then I saw the top of a white egg and literally you could have knocked me over, I was so excited."

Now, the wait begins. The eggs have been placed into an incubator, which will keep them at the ideal temperature and humidity until they hatch in two months. After caring for the hatchling for about a year, the conservationists plan to release the turtles back into the wild.

"Aussie Ark has the largest captive breeding and rewilding program of the Manning River turtle in the world. Our organisation literally stands between the turtle and its imminent extinction. By breeding them in captivity we cut out the impact of feral predation, which is one of the main challenges to the species in the wild," Houston said.

"Breeding the MRTs in captivity means all the eggs can be safeguarded, kept in ideal conditions in incubators, with a high success rate for development and hatching. The young turtle are then fed and nurtured in captivity until they reach independence, after which Aussie Ark returns them to the Manning River for release. This literally 'cuts out' the impact of feral predators," she said. "We hope this unique breeding and rewilding strategy creates a viable 'insurance population' safeguarding the species from extinction."

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Update 01/05/24, 11:07 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Houston.