Elseya irwini was named by scientists
in the 1990's, and is known only from the Broken River and
tributaries downstream of Eungella Dam through to the Burdekin
River. Within the Burdekin River the turtle is known only
from it's junction with the Bowen River upstream to about 18 km
upstream of the township of Ayr.
E. irwini is named after Bob and
Steve Irwin (of Crocodile Hunter fame). It is the second
largest short necked turtle in Australia. The mature
females are known to have a distinctive pale yellow head
and pink nose.
Very little is known about E. irwini.
Until pilot studies in 2006, the turtle had not been the subject of
even the most cursory of ecological studies. E. irwini
occupies a river system over 100km in length and only two nests
have ever been found. Both of these nests were predated and
no hatchlings survived.
It was nominated for endangered status under the
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, because
of the very low recruitment of juveniles into the population. The
population structure is very adult (93 per cent) and female (91 per
cent) biased. Population modelling of other species in the genus
suggests that juveniles should dominate the population.
If juvenile recruitment does not increase, the
population may collapse. Similar concerns have been the momentum
for significant research and management action for a sister
species, Elseya albagula, in the Burnett River in South East
Queensland.
An understanding of the location and preferred
habitat for nesting sites was developed - as well as nesting
success at those sites. A James Cook University research team
captured a number of the turtles, attached transmitters and
recorded statistical information about their diet and biology. By
assessing the physical characteristics of these key nesting sites,
a better understanding of the species was gained. James Cook
University also monitoring nesting success and survival of
hatchlings and itentified reasons for low juvenile recruitment.
