Hunter River Turtle

The Hunter River Turtle (Emydura macquarii) is a species of turtle that occurs throughout many of the rivers of the eastern half of Australia. It is found in the Macquarie River basin and all its major tributaries, along with a number of coastal rivers up the New South Wales Coast.

During the 2019 drought concern was raised about the Hunter River Turtle with concerns or its population status due to mass mortality events

Hunter Local Land Services has engaged with North West Ecological Services to undertake surveys in the Hunter River and its tributaries with the aim of determining the abundance and distribution of the turtle populations within the Hunter catchment.

Data collected from the Hunter River Health Check provides insight in to factors that affect the species survival such as pollution and sedimentation.