Release of further 28 endangered western swamp tortoises

August 30, 1997

The wild population of the world's rarest tortoise or turtle - the western swamp tortoise - was bolstered today with the release of a further 28 of the critically endangered animals into the Twin Swamps Nature Reserve near Bullsbrook.

Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes said the release of Australia's most endangered tortoise meant there were now more than 100 western swamp tortoises (Pseudemydura umbrina) living in their natural environments at Twin Swamps and in the nearby Ellen Brook Nature Reserve.

"This is a conservation coup of international significance," Mrs Edwardes said.

"The animal was first recorded in 1839 and only described in 1901. It was not recorded again until 1953 when two were found near Warbrook, only 30km north-east of central Perth.

"Further studies revealed that in the 1960s, there were more than 150 of the tortoises in wild populations in the reserves but due to fox predation and a series of dry years, this number dwindled in the 1970s and '80s. By the late 1980s there were only about 50 tortoises in existence."

Mrs Edwardes said the rescue effort for the species was based on a recovery plan prepared by representatives of the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Perth Zoo, the Zoology Department of the University of Western Australia, Curtin University's School of Biomedical Science, Environment Australia (the Commonwealth's nature conservation agency), the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia and the Shire of Swan. It was co-ordinated by CALM's WA Threatened Species and Communities Unit.

Funds for the recovery project have come from the Commonwealth Government via Environment Australia's Endangered Species Program, CALM, Perth Zoo, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Water Corporation of WA, several Perth companies and some international tortoise conservation societies.

"The work of the western swamp tortoise recovery team is clear evidence that the recovery planning process is playing a key role in preventing extinctions and restoring the State's biological diversity," Mrs Edwardes said.

"The recovery team is to be congratulated. They have shown that agencies and individuals can work together to recover threatened species using modern scientific research and the latest techniques."

The work of Dr Gerald Kuchling from the Zoology Department at UWA and of Dean Burford at Perth Zoo has been especially important.

Mrs Edwardes said foxes, one the biggest threats to the survival of the tortoises, had been eliminated by the fencing of Twin Swamps and Ellen Brook.

She also released interim recovery plans for a further 13 species of threatened native flora and fauna.

The new plans cover the night parrot, antina (or central rock-rat), western ground parrot, small flowered conostylis; red snakebush, dwarf rock wattle, Mogumber bell, Norseman pea, Kamballup dryandra, Stirling Range dryandra, metallic flowered eremophila, majestic spider orchid and swamp starflower.

"These interim recovery plans identify threatening processes and set out objectives and actions to bring species back from the brink of extinction," Mrs Edwardes said.

Media contacts: Ministerial Diana Russell Coote 9421 7777

CALM Dr Andrew Burbidge 9405 5128