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Hatchlings of Olive Ridley turtles released at Besant Nagar beach in Chennai, Apr 2023.

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We have Olive Ridley turtles in Australia along the north coast.

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Endemic to endangered to east coast of Australia - but there is hope.

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Photo credits from D. Harasti, DPI

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Koala population has been declining and it has been listed as endangered on 12 February 2022.

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Olive ridley turtles

During the nesting season, hundreds of female turtles come to the beaches at Chennai to lay their eggs (on the same beach they were born).

The nests are conical in shape and are made by the female turtle using her hind flippers. After laying the eggs, the female covers the nest with sand using her back flippers in a process known as the "turtle dance". Once the nest is covered, the female returns to the sea.

To protect the eggs from predators and human interference, volunteers collect the eggs and carefully move them to a safer location. An artificial nest is created in a protected area and the eggs are covered with sand. After about 45 days, the eggs hatch and the baby turtles are carefully removed from the nest and released into the water. Akshath

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Major threats to our koalas include loss of habitat, injury or death from traffic, dogs and cats. 

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Clearing of the land for expansion of human settlement, for example, for agriculture, housing, mining, forestry, shops, factories and roads. While humans need these modern conveniences, we should be trying to put them in places where Koalas and other wildlife are not already living, and to think of other solutions to the problems of modern life, such as improving public transport. Click here for more information on Koala habitat.

Clearing of the eucalypt forests means that all wildlife, including Koalas, will suffer from:

loss of habitat

increased disturbance by humans

injury or death from traffic

injury or death from dogs and cats

effects of garden pesticides getting into waterways

increased competition for food and territory because of overcrowding

increased stress on animals, making them more susceptible to disease.

Cars and Dogs

When habitat is cleared for roads and housing estates, cars and dogs become a serious threat to Koalas. Over 4000 Koalas are killed each year by cars and dogs. Click here for more information about Koalas and dogs.

Bushfires

Koalas are at great risk from bushfires. If a Koala population is living in an area of bushland which is surrounded by development, the whole colonly could be wiped out in a single fire.

Disease

There are four common Koala diseases caused by the chlamydia organism: conjunctivitis which can cause blindness, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and reproductive tract infections, which can cause female infertility. The symptoms of chlamydia manifest as sore eyes, chest infections, and "wet bottom" or "dirty tail". Chlamydia is harmless in populations with unlimited resources, but manifests in times of stress, which happens when habitat is reduced. In disease-free populations which have been moved to areas where they were not native or where there is not enough habitat to support them (such as on some islands off Victoria and Kangaroo Island in South Australia), problems with overpopulation have arisen because of this unnatural situation. Koalas also suffer from a range of cancers like leukemia and skin cancers. Click here to learn more about Koala disease and injury.

Dieback

Changes in the balance of the ecosystem can lead to dieback. The cutting back of the original vast forests has created patches of forest separated from each other by treeless land. Small, isolated patches of forest are prone to dieback. Dieback is a general term for the gradual dying of trees due to factors such as land degradation, leaching of soil nutrients, changes in the composition of vegetation communities, rising water levels underground, salination (or salting-up) of the soil, erosion caused by wind and water, exposure to weather and excessive defoliation (or loss of leaves)

The underlying cause of all these factors appears to be the clearing and disturbance of forests. Seventy five percent of the main Koala food tree species are declining in numbers as a result of dieback.

Other threats

Today the natural predators of the Koala do not make a significant impact on wild populations. They include goannas dingoes, powerful owls, wedge-tailed eagles, and pythons, all of which are most likely to prey upon juvenile Koalas.

Feral animals are another threat Koalas have had to face since European settlement. Foxes have been blamed for preying upon young Koalas when their mother descends to the ground to change trees, and large feral cats may also be a problem for young Koalas. A decline in Koala populations has also been observed in times of drought.

"Our beautiful Koalas can't live without their gumtrees." Samantha (7)

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Threats to the Koala - Australian Koala Foundation

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Clearing of the land for expansion of human settlement, for example, for agriculture, housing, mining, forestry, shops, factories and roads. While humans need these modern conveniences, we should be trying to put them in places where Koalas and other wildlife are not already living, and to think of other solutions to the problems of modern life, such as improving public transport.

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A walk along the beach provides this wonderful sight besides the beautiful, soothing waves! by Akshath

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Nature is truly magical! Female sea turtles arrive at the beach they were born at... to lay eggs!!!                                         

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Nature is truly magical! Female sea turtles arrive at the beach they were born at... to lay eggs!!!                                         

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Female turtles returning to the shore to lay eggs

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Why must Olive Ridley be conserved? by Sadhana

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Why must Olive Ridley be conserved? by Sadhana

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1.    Turtles are exposed to predators like jackals, birds, hyenas, fiddler crabs, and dogs lurking around, waiting to feed on them.

2.    The survival rate inside the sea is also very low. It is estimated that approximately 1 hatchling survives to reach adulthood for every 1000 hatchlings that enter the sea waters.

3.    Human activities are also a serious threat to the Olive Ridleys. They are extensively poached for eggs, meat, shell, and leather and have large illegal markets around the coastal regions.

4.    Therefore, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognised as Vulnerable.

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When did Olive Ridley conservation actually start?

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When did Olive Ridley conservation actually start?

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Beginning of Olive Ridley Conservation:
It all started in 1970s by Romulus Whitaker when he saw these turtles hatchlings moving towards the city and die. He started collecting the eggs and protected them in their hatcheries in Neelankarai in Chennai, east coast road. Later he released them into the water. From then on people slowly joined hands with conservation groups to protect these creatures. We are glad to be a part of such conservation groups. By Anan

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I am very happy to share my experience with all of you. A group of us volunteers did a beach clean-up drive just in time for the nesting season of the Olive Ridley turtles.

I had a lovely opportunity to watch the grand farewell of baby olive ridley turtles. Even though lakhs of turtles bid farewell every year, only 1 in 500 survive till adulthood. This is very sad and humans fishing using trawlers is the main cause of these turtles dying when they are young. When I saw the baby turtles crawl into the sea, I prayed they all grow up and come back here to our beach several years later to nest and lay eggs.

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Opinion

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The discovery of a flourishing koala colony at Gunnedah once held great optimism for the species' future. If they managed to survive, maybe they were the key to saving koalas dying across Australia.

But a poignant report by the Herald's national environment and climate editor Nick O'Malley shows the fragile Gunnedah population is headed for extinction, victim of a combination of heat and drought accelerated by climate change and the rapid spread of chlamydia infection.

Just as the national debate over climate change got deliberately bogged in the denialist weeds for years until fire and rain finally settled the issue, "koala deniers" and vested interests in NSW blocked policy to save the endangered animals. Regrettably, koalas thrive in landscapes also favoured by humans and they have been displaced by urban development, logging and agriculture along the east coast. In 2012, the species was listed as vulnerable in NSW, Queensland and the ACT. A decade later, after the Black Summer bushfires, the Morrison government declared them endangered.

The mass slaughter of koalas started soon after federation when they were killed for skins or pelts, a trade driven by their popularity in the US coat, glove and hat industries. NSW, Victoria and South Australia banned the killing, but it continued in Queensland until 1927, and since then ecologists in NSW and Queensland have studied an animal in decline.

Gunnedah's koala population is headed for extinction. Credit: Wolter Peeters

But research by Dan Lunney, a retired University of Sydney professor, made the remarkable discovery that while koala populations were tumbling across Australia, a small colony around Gunnedah was thriving. In a landscape disrupted by modern farming and mining, Lunney found a tree-planting program conducted at Gunnedah in the 1990s to combat salinity had the unintended consequence of boosting koala numbers in the 2000s. Scientists wanted to know how they might replicate the effect.

But since 2015, the colony has shrivelled. Associate professor in veterinary pathology at the University of Sydney Mark Krockenberger estimated up to 70 per cent were infected with chlamydia, and a tipping point had been reached. "Once you get to that sort of level, it's very hard to maintain population numbers," he said. "If your breeding population shrinks from 100 per cent, down to 30 per cent, over a period of two or three years, that's not a sustainable pathway."

When the koala was designated as endangered, the federal government allocated $50 million to saving the species. NSW governments have a shameful history of doing little.

In fact, the dwindling population was so expendable it became a political football after the Black Summer when the National Party leader John Barilaro threatened to leave the Coalition on the spurious grounds that new provisions on tree clearance interfered with farmers' rights to their own land and protected types of trees in which koalas do not live. Such rights have never been extended to residents of NSW towns and cities. As climate change forces a rethink on land usage, the time has passed when the Nationals can spruik such federation views.

For its part, Labor promised $80 million to establish the Great Koala National Park between Coffs Harbour and Kempsey during the state election campaign but the Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, has so far done nothing to stop logging in the proposed area which the National Parks Association estimates will decimate about 10 per cent of the park over the next year alone.

There are some hopeful signs. A few healthy colonies remain around Sydney - 100 or so have been found in Heathcote National Park. But hard decisions are urgently required to address this continuing calamity. Do we want koalas or development? Could farmers be paid to protect them? The looming fate of the Gunnedah colony makes it imperative that the state government acts fast to counter the wider tragedy.
Bevan Shields sends a newsletter to subscribers each week. Sign up to receive his Note from the Editor.

The Herald's View - Since the Herald was first published in 1831, the editorial team has believed it important to express a considered view on the issues of the day for readers, always putting the public interest first.

Most Viewed in Environment

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A koala colony gave hope of a better tomorrow. Not anymore.

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Opinion Save Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The discovery of a flourishing koala colony at Gunnedah once held great optimism for the species' future.

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How our healthiest koala colony collapsed into extinction

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Is the water that the Olive Ridley turtles are realised cold?

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Breeding program gives hope to White's Seahorse

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Breeding program gives hope to White's Seahorse

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Scientists have released more than 300 baby seahorses into waters north of Newcastle in a bid to save Australia's only seahorse species on the endangered list.

An expert says flooding in NSW has had a dramatic impact on seahorses

A DPI scientist says today's release is the "best one we've ever done"

The animals are expected to start breeding in October

White's seahorse used to be a common sight in Sydney Harbour and the waters of Port Stephens, but in recent years the numbers have declined dramatically.

Diver and Department of Primary Industries (DPI) scientist David Harasti has witnessed this decline.

"Twenty years ago I could go diving here and I'd find 20 to 30 seahorses a dive," he said.

"But if I go there now I'd be lucky to find one or two."

Laura Simmons, the Regional Curator for Australia and New Zealand Sea Life, said the coastal ecosystem was fragile and disturbances to the sand and human interaction impacted upon it.

"Everything from boat moorings to coastal development, and any of the washout that comes during normal rains," she said.

"The decline of the seahorses has been impacted greatly by the flooding that we've been having in New South Wales over the past few years."

'Best one we've ever done'

Sydney Aquarium hosts the breeding program and Port Stephens seahorses are used as brood stock.

After the fathers give birth - a feature unique to seahorses and sea dragons in the animal world - the babies are raised to a suitable size and released into the same waters their parents came from.

On board a DPI boat off Nelson Bay, divers lowered the babies, sealed in seawater bags, to the sea floor, where they released them into "hotels" - metal structures designed to provide habitat to the juveniles as they mature.

Dr Harasti said release day was always exciting.

"That was the best one we've ever done - 350 baby seahorses sitting around in their new home," he said.

"It's great to see and I can't wait to go back in a couple of weeks and see how they're doing."

DPI scientists will now monitor the seahorses to record their survival and growth.

They are expected to start breeding in October.

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Hundreds of endangered seahorses released into the wild off NSW coast

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Scientists have released more than 300 baby seahorses into waters north of Newcastle in a bid to save Australia's only seahorse species on the endangered list.

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How big are the Olive Ridley turtles?🐢

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What old do the Olive Ridley turtles live for?

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What old do the Olive Ridley turtles live for?

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Who started the turtle breeding program?

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Are the Olive Ridley Turtles cold blooded or warm blooded

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How old do the Olive Ridley Turtles stay with their mother?

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Are the Olive Ridley Turtles known as land turtles or mainly just aquatic!? 🐢-Lilla

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How long does it take for the Olive Ridley Turtles to hatch
Molly

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Have you ever seen the turtles in person? 😊

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What are the after effects of Bush fire on Koalas ?
-Anan

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Why do Koalas prefer to live on eucalyptus trees and feed on their leaves? How are their (eucalyptus trees) numbers in Australia currently .
-Anan

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Can we plant more eucalyptus trees in the cities and make them free ranging animals ? What are the possibilities ?
-Anan

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Government might be taking enough measures to protect Koalas.What can we students from our side do to protect them?

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Recent updates about Olive Ridley Turtles - Avyukth Bala

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Recent updates about Olive Ridley Turtles - Avyukth Bala

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1000 more eggs being incubated for hatching - Avyukth Bala 

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1000 more eggs being incubated for hatching - Avyukth Bala 

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Loggers threaten creation of Great Koala Nation Park

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Loggers threaten creation of Great Koala Nation Park

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Read more to find out how forest logging will impact the establishment of koala habitats.

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Pressure is mounting on the state government to halt logging within the boundaries of the proposed Great Koala National Park, which it promised to create near the state's Mid North Coast during the last two election campaigns.

Forestry Corporation NSW plans show that over the next 12 months it intends to log 30,813 hectares of a total 175,000 hectares of state forests that fall within the boundaries of the proposed Great Koala National Park, home to one in five of the state's surviving koalas.

Mark Graham of the Bellingen Nature Company at the Ellis State Forest, south-west of Grafton, where critical, old growth koala habitat is being logged. Credit: Dean Sewell

This would include areas identified by the government as the most important koala habitat in the state at Wild Cattle Creek, Clouds Creek, Pine Creek and in the Boambee State Forests.

"[Forestry Corporation NSW] knows this national park is coming, and they are deliberately ramping up operations within its boundaries to extract as much timber from it as possible," NSW Nature Conservation Council chief executive Jacqui Mumford said.

"The NSW government committed to protecting koalas by creating the [Great Koala National Park], but before the assessment process even begins, Forestry Corporation plans to log nearly 20 per cent of the park."

The calls for a moratorium on logging by the state-owned enterprise come as Victoria is expected to announce it will bring forward an end to all logging in its state forests to 2024 from 2030, bringing that state into line with Western Australia.

"Victoria and Western Australia are now both ending native forest logging by 2024, while Queensland is stopping logging south of Noosa by next year. NSW is now the laggard in this space, and it's time for the NSW government to step up," Mumford said.

Both major parties in NSW have long resisted calls to end logging in native forests despite the industry running at a loss.

The proposed national park would link together and protect existing national parks and state forests and add other critical habitats from South West Rocks, north of Coffs Harbour, to Woy Woy, in the south, and areas inland over parts of the Great Dividing Range.

Responding to questions from the Herald, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe did not address calls for a moratorium but reiterated her government's commitment to create the Great Koala National Park during its first term.

In 2020, the Herald reported on a giant tree allegedly felled by the Forestry Corporation of NSW in the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest, in breach of native forestry regulations.

"We were very clear at the election that the process to establish the park will involve seeking scientific advice, consulting with all stakeholders, and will include an independent economic assessment of the park's impact on local jobs and communities," she said.

"The park will include 140,000ha of existing reserves and the assessment of 176,000ha of state forest for inclusion in the park."

Mumford said it was "ridiculous" that the government was spending $29 million of taxpayers' money to log koala habitat at a loss while spending additional taxpayer funds to protect the koala.

During the 2021-22 financial year, the hardwood division of Forestry Corporation NSW, which is responsible for native forest logging, ran at a loss of $9 million, following a loss of $20 million the previous year, according to an analysis by the Nature Conservation Council.

A report published in April by conservative think tank The Blueprint Institute also found native forest logging in NSW ran at a loss and said the government would save taxpayers $45 million by shutting down that sector of the industry in the coming year rather than when current forestry agreements expire in 2040.

"This includes the estimated cost of providing transitional packages to the industry as it shuts down, as well as the cost of breaking wood supply agreements that extend to 2028," the report said.

On Friday, NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson wrote to Sharpe calling for her to implement a moratorium on logging inside the proposed national park.

"Your government has committed to an $80 million investment to create the [Great Koala National Park], however Forestry Corporation continues to log this area while studies and consultations are under way.

"Native forest logging is the leading cause of koala habitat destruction. Before the 2019/20 bushfires, koala populations had declined by 50 per cent over 20 years. They are expected to be extinct by 2050, yet the Forestry Corporation is still logging their habitat."

The koala population in Gunnedah, a town in north-eastern NSW, is headed for extinction. Credit: Wolter Peeters

Higginson said she had been in talks with other members of the powerful crossbench in the state's lower house who were also keen to discuss the issue with Sharpe.

In February last year, former federal environment minister Sussan Ley upgraded the conservation status of koalas in NSW, Queensland and the ACT from vulnerable to endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee followed suit in May.
Get to the heart of what's happening with climate change and the environment. Our fortnightly Environment newsletter brings you the news, the issues and the solutions. Sign up here.

Connect via Nick O'Malley is National Environment and Climate Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is also a senior writer and a former US correspondent. email.

Most Viewed in Environment

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Before creation of koala national park, loggers target key habitat

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Save Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size Pressure is mounting on the state government to halt logging within the boundaries of the proposed Great Koala National Park, which it promised to create near the state's Mid North Coast during the last two election campaigns.

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Are Olive Ridley turtles endangered?-Dani

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You answered one of my questions saying that you have seen the Olive Ridley turtles in person before. When was that and what was it like?
-Maya

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Actual footage of Olive ridley turtles laying eggs.-Avyukth Bala

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Actual footage of Olive ridley turtles laying eggs.-Avyukth Bala

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The female starts the eggs off, and then they transfer the eggs into the male through the tail. In about 2 to 4 weeks the male will push them out of his pouch and only 0.5 sehorses survive into adulthood.

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White’s seahorses are medium-sized, the maximum they grow up to is 16cm and have 34-35 tail-rings.

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Fairy bread is a food mostly used at parties, it is bread with butter spread on it and 100’s and 1000’s, 100’s and 1000’s are sprinkles that are really good!!

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There predators are fish,seaturtles,water birds and marine mammals which they also use a ability of camouflage to protect themselves from predators.

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This is the best way of making homemade strawberry milkshake. It’s  beautifully pink, frosty and bursting with flavour. Shravya Sai 

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This is the best way of making homemade strawberry milkshake. It’s  beautifully pink, frosty and bursting with flavour. Shravya Sai 

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Ingredients:
Add 1 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries, 1/2 a cup whole milk, 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract (optional) and 2 tablespoons of white sugar (optional) into a mixer and blend it well. After blending, transfer into a glass and add some whipped cream in it  and to top it off with extra flavour add chunks of fresh strawberries (optional) . Your delicious milkshake is ready!!

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Endangered turtle hatchlings released on Country

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Down the road about 40kms away, Taronga Zoo released our own endangered Loggerhead Turtles. 80 eggs were relocated when temperatures were too cold as it’s the first turtles recorded this far south the coast. Darkinjung LALC led a special  Welcome (back) to Country and smoking ceremony for the turtles before they were returned to the waves.

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Endangered turtle hatchlings released on Country

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Endangered Loggerhead Turtle hatchlings will be returned to Shelly Beach on the NSW Central Coast today after an epic egg rescue.

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How would seahorses help in maintaining the underwater habitat? - Shravya Sai

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How would seahorses help in maintaining the underwater habitat? - Shravya Sai