News

Environmental experts, detection dogs team up to protect native freshwater turtles

12 January 2026

YEL Forum students learning about turtles

As the old saying goes, 'never work with children and animals', but that is exactly what the people behind South Australia's first turtle management strategy are doing in a bid to protect the vulnerable creatures.

Deploying conservation detection dogs and educating the next generation on turtle conservation, are some of the methods the environmental experts are using to help stabilise the state's freshwater turtle populations.

University of New England ecology and zoology associate professor Deborah Bower has been researching the troubled species' grim outlook.

"One in three Australian freshwater turtles is threatened with extinction," she said.

A juvenile River Murray freshwater turtle in a hand of a person.

In South Australia, Murray short-necked turtles and broad-shelled turtles are listed as vulnerable. (ABC News: Jessica Schremmer)

"Turtles have historically not received as much attention as economically important animals like fish."

She said the lack of attention and research on the turtle's role in the ecosystem has been overlooked, leaving knowledge gaps.

"We still lack a lot of data on turtles," she said.

"Funding to monitor how different populations are faring over time and how changing environmental patterns such as big floods and droughts are influencing those populations [is key]."

The River Murray is home to three native freshwater species — the Murray short-necked turtle, the eastern long-necked turtle and the broad-shelled turtle.

In South Australia, two of the three species are listed as vulnerable, facing steep population declines due to habitat loss, river regulation, drought and fox predation.

This is an extract from ABC News original article