First Manning River turtle eggs laid at Aussie Ark, Australian Reptile Park Somersby, Central Coast

A critically endangered turtle, restricted to just a stretch of river on the NSW Mid-North Coast, is being brought back from the brink of extinction by a groundbreaking program. Check out the photos and video.

“It doesn’t get any better than this,” say the experts behind a groundbreaking program bringing the critically endangered Manning River turtle back from the brink of extinction.

They are beside themselves with excitement after the first-ever laying of eggs in a captive breeding facility on the NSW Central Coast.

Aussie Ark’s Conservation Ark facility is on the grounds of the Australian Reptile Park in Somersby on the Central Coast. It hosts the largest captive breeding program of this turtle species in the world.

The species is restricted to the middle and upper stretches of the Manning River on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

The turtle is restricted to the middle and upper stretches of the Manning River on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

Four Manning River turtle females were confirmed as “gravid” (egg bearing) about a month ago, after breeding was witnessed in May.

Aussie Ark has been breeding and ‘rewilding’ the species since the Black Summer fires in 2019.

Helpers saved animals and retrieved wild eggs, which would have otherwise perished in extreme drought and fire conditions.

Last year, the organisation returned ten of this cohort back into the Manning River – a world-first wild release of the species.

That was an exciting milestone for Conservation Ark, but the laying of the eggs trumps it, according to conservation manager Hayley Shute.

She and operations manager Billy Collett have managed the turtle program since its inception and were literally shaking with excitement as they discovered the eggs.

“There is so much work and expertise leading to this moment – specialist food, water monitoring and the construction of favoured nest sites,” Ms Shute said.

Billy Collett and Hayley Shute.

“We’ve been checking our females day and night and over the past week, the high humidity, rain and heat has been perfect turtle laying weather and they did it – we did it – it’s amazing.”

Digging her fingers into the sand of the nest box and finding the eggs was akin to finding presents under the Christmas tree for Ms Shute.

Now, they await the day the turtles can be released into the wild.

“This is full circle conservation. It doesn’t get any better than this,” Mr Collett said.

Billy Collett cleaning a Manning River Turtle egg.

The first Manning River Turtle female to lay produced a dozen eggs.

To safeguard them, they were transferred to an incubator where temperature and humidity can be kept stable to maximise hatching success.

The little turtles should hatch in about two months and will be cared for in Conservation Ark for a year before being released into an aquatic home in the wild.

Climate change challenges aside, the greatest threat to the species is feral predation, with foxes and pigs decimating nest sites.

Numbers have plummeted to a “critically endangered” state and human intervention is likely the only thing standing between the turtles and extinction, experts say.