Record 94 Endangered Turtle Clutches Saved in Australia

Brad Crosbie knelt on the riverbank and pressed gently on the sandy ground. It collapsed beneath his hand, revealing a tiny endangered turtle pushing toward the surface after six months underground.

This moment represents the best season yet for WYLD Projects, a Bundaberg-based conservation group that has spent nine years protecting white-throated snapping turtles. The team found 187 clutches this nesting season and saved 94 from predators by relocating them to protective cages.

That number crushes their previous record. In past years, they could only protect 60 to 70 clutches.

"We've never had this amount of clutches before in the last nine years," said Crosbie, the group's general manager. "This season had been extraordinary."

The turtles, known as milbi in the local Taribelang Bunda language, are critically endangered. Without intervention, nearly 100 percent of their eggs would be destroyed by predators before hatching.

What made this year different? Crosbie noticed an explosion of dragonflies and cicadas, which signal strong rainfall and prime nesting conditions. But something unusual happened too.

The mother turtles laid eggs for five or six consecutive days, even without rain. Normally, they only nest one to two days after rainfall.

"That's never ever happened in the history of the species," Crosbie said. He suspects moisture remained in the ground long enough to encourage extended nesting.

The Ripple Effect

The conservation work extends far beyond protecting turtle eggs. WYLD Projects connects young people to Indigenous culture and environmental stewardship through hands-on experience.

Bruce Waia, the group's Indigenous project officer, sees parallels between the hatchlings' struggle for survival and the challenges facing youth in his community. "They're looking at these babies coming out of the ground and going to the water and seeing straight away they're in survival mode," he said.

The young turtles face a long road ahead. They need 15 to 20 years to reach adulthood.

Meanwhile, 125 miles south, Tiaro Landcare protected 59 clutches of the equally endangered Mary River turtle this season. Marilyn Connell, who has done this work for 25 years, said without protection "the recruitment would just be basically next to zero."

Half of Australia's 25 native freshwater turtle species now have a conservation status of vulnerable or worse. These small cages on riverbanks represent critical lifelines.

After releasing a hatchling into the Burnett River, Crosbie sat quietly and watched the water. "We haven't got PhDs. We just got a connection to this turtle," he said. "We've got a love language and that's why we're doing this."

About a dozen cages still contain clutches ready to emerge in the coming weeks, adding to this season's remarkable success.