Basic Information:

The Western Swamp turtle has the scientific name of Pseudemydura umbrina and is critically endangered. Once it was actually considered extinct until someone found one at the Perth Zoo.

Habitat:

The Western Swamp Turtle can only be found in two swamps in the whole of Australia. Both of these swamps are close to Perth and were created by the rain water sticking to the clay. The Western Swamp turtles usually spend the summer months buried under many leaves and soil and only come out when it is winter and there is rain. The turtles are been bred in the Twin Swamps Nature Reserve and every year a few are freed into the wild.

Reasons for endangerment:

One of the main reasons of endangerment is that the turtles themselves live in a very limited amount of areas in Australia. Out of those very few areas most of it has been cleared and gone under intensive agricultural work which means the turtles can no longer live there.

Climate change has affected the life of the Western Swamp Turtle because it has decreased the rainfall in Winter in Perth which is necessary for the life of the Western Swamp Turtles.

Predators play a big part in the endangerment of the Western Swamp Turtle because they are extremely small. When the turtles are just eggs the European Red Fox and Southern Brown Bandicoot will eat them, when they are hatchling large birds and foxes will choose the turtles as their prey. Foxes are the main predators of the Western Swamp turtle and are the reason for the decline of the species.

There isn’t a large number of the Western Swamp Turtle still around today. It has been recorded that there are only 30 left in the whole of Australia.

To help stop the extinction of the Western Swamp Turtle, they are being bred in the Twin Swamps Nature Reserve. They don’t have much area left for them to go to so many will stay at the nature reserve but few are released into the wild. Although they are being bred in captivity it doesn’t look like they will be taken off the endangered species list any time soon but their species is growing.

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