THEY are the Murray River baby turtles who are hundreds of kilometres away from home on the Central Coast.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Australian Reptile Park in Somersby is celebrating the surprise hatching of 50 turtles after eggs were found exposed in a pond. The turtle, which is listed as a “vulnerable” species, can only be found in the Murray-Darling Basin. After keepers found the turtle eggs following a storm, they were brought inside and placed in the park’s incubator where they were safely hatched.
The eggs are believed to be from three different mother turtles, because when the eggs were removed they were found in three separate chambers. In the wild, Murray River turtles typically lay between six to 20 eggs in a clutch over spring and summer. In can take up to 80 days for the eggs to hatch naturally. The hatchlings were already learning how to swim, with a new video, available at theherald.com.au, showing dozens of the sea creatures awkwardly flapping about inside a tank.