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Elected representatives in government are in charge of the policy and funding that can make or break saving threatened species. Their decisions and actions matter.

Wide Bay has or used to have 36 threatened animals within its boundaries. One of them is me, the Mary River Turtle.

We took care to attach appropriate images that are as close to representative of each species as our resources and the availability of images allowed. However, we could not ensure perfect accuracy in every case. Some images show species that share the same genus but not at the species or subspecies level.

Photo of Mary River Turtle

Mary River Turtle

Elusor macrurus

Status: Endangered

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) lists threatened species under six categories:
Extinct, Extinct in the wild, Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Conservation dependent. Read more about these categories

Elusor macrurus has greater than 80% of its range within Wide Bay

The Mary River Tortoise is dark brown, rusty red-brown to almost black above, with a greyish underbody, a broadly oval shell with a median notch, and a moderately sized plastron which is about twice as long as broad. The plastron may be cream to yellow, the skin of the inguinal areas pinkish-white, and the dorsal skin grey, suffused with pink on the transverse lamellae scales. The species also has pointed tubercles on the neck. Unlike most Australian freshwater turtles, males are larger than females. Females grow to 34 cm long, and males to 42 cm long. The shells of females are wider at the front than at the back, and the shells of males are narrow and straight-sided. Tails of males are very long and laterally compressed. The carapace of adult males is generally longer than 35 cm, and the tail is longer than 7 cm. This species displays physiological features that allow for cloacal respiration. It has large hind feet, and is a fast swimmer.¹

Explore more about this species on the Atlas of Living Australia

Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradationHabitat loss, fragmentation and degradation

Explore more about the threats facing species on our Resources page.

Wide Bay has or used to have 45 threatened plants found within its boundaries. Some of these might not be as photogenic as the Mary River Turtle but they're just as important.

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