Save the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle from Possible Extinction

Most everyone loves the beautiful, graceful aquatic turtles of the world, with the many varieties that grace our environment. One variety that many are not familiar with is the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle which is predominantly found in New South Wales. The sad news recently is that a mysterious disease is affecting this rare species, almost pushing the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle on the brink of extinction.

With the face of this turtle appearing to have a permanent grin, conservationists consider it to be very endearing. But the disease that is affecting this creature is causing it to be very lethargic and show lesions upon its body and on the eyes. This disease has grave concerns for scientists throughout Australia. Dead turtles continue to wash up on shore, leading to a mortality rate thus far of 90 percent.

One of the zoologists from the University of Western Sydney, Dr. Spencer states that “There’s a real possibility they’ll become extinct, which is a tragedy really. For this to occur over the period of a month is very alarming. It’s a mystery event never seen in Australia before. It may take years before we find out what’s happened here. What we do know is that it kills and it kills rapidly. Within a month, the turtles have gone from not threatened to endangered or critically endangered. The problem is that they only exist in the Bellinger River.”

We are asking for the zoologists and scientists to investigate this situation and find a resolution that will save this turtle from the brink of extinction. Currently they believe the turtles may have been attacked by a number of diseases after becoming vulnerable from a lack of food, but there is no established theory for the decline as yet. Help us by signing and sharing this petition in our efforts to encourage a lengthy investigation and hopefully good resolution that will save this animal, possibly starting with a breeding program and healthy waters.