Life's tough
for a sea turtle hatchling at the best of times - it only has a one
in 1,000 chance of survival.
And for turtles
on western Cape York Peninsula there's another threat, with
research showing a high percentage of nests being destroyed by
feral pigs and dingoes.
Egg-laying
efforts stand little chance against the skill of these animals who,
if they don't immediately feast on eggs, wait through the night and
pick off the baby turtles one at a time as they hatch.
Dr Col Limpus,
Senior Principal Conservation Officer with the Queensland
Environmental Protection Agency, does not believe turtle
populations are sustainable with current predation pressures on
nests and hatchlings.
The Australian
Government has put $150,000 towards a Turtle Nest Predation
Monitoring Program administered by Cape York Peninsula Development
Association (CYPDA). Support has also been provided by the State
Government.
This project
complements research being conducted by Dr Limpus, with monitoring
part of a wider program involving feral animal control funded by
the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and
Water.
A recent
large-scale aerial shoot destroyed 7,500 pigs in specially targeted
areas on the coast. Monitoring nests before and after shoots will
help determine how effective this is in protecting the
turtles.
Brian Benham,
Natural Resource Management Coordinator for the Cape York region,
said Traditional Owners are being trained and employed as part-time
rangers in five key areas as an important part of the monitoring
program.
CYPDA are
coordinating the employment of two rangers in each of five turtle
'hot spot' areas with high levels of nesting, stretching from
Napranum up to Prince of Wales Island in the Torres Strait.The
turtles include the endangered Hawkesbill, Olive Ridley, and
Flatback.
Every morning
the rangers traverse selected beaches and identify the tracks of
species coming ashore. They mark nests with GPS equipment, identify
them with pegs and take photos of tracks. If the nest is attacked
by predators the species involved can be identified by the tracks.
In most cases the Indigenous Rangers have been very surprised at
the levels of predation.
Despite the
difficulties, community concern about the issue is growing and more
Traditional Owners are volunteering to help the rangers.
More
information
Brian Benham, CYDPA NRM
Coordinator: brian.benham@cypda.com.au
Cape York Turtle Rescue www.capeyorkturtlerescue.com
