iHerp Australia Issue 3 | Page 10

Left: a hunter works the freshly exposed soil as the fire continues to clear the ground. Below left: Warradjan and Ngalmangiyi depicted in bim (rock art) high in the escarpment country. surrounding areas. Chelodina rugosa is the largest, grow- ing to 360mm carapace length (CL); this species will inhabit seasonal and permanent creeks, rivers, billabongs and floodplains. Chelodina burrungandjii (CL 266mm) is generally restricted to escarpment streams and rivers, and there is minimal overlap with C. Rugosa. Emydura tanybaraga (CL 285mm) is sympatric with C. Rugosa, while W. latisternum (CL 280mm) is uncommon but can be found in the permanent rivers and adjacent permanent bodies of water. Of these four species only two are gener- ally encountered while hunting; C. Rugosa makes up the vast majority of the harvest and E. tanybaraga represents most of the remainder. Unsurprisingly, the hunting methods reflect the turtles’ seasonal movements. Beginning in the run off, known locally as Bankerreng (generally around April to May) the reptiles are forced to move from the areas that they have gained access to during the flooding monsoons. Throughout the day and night turtles will travel through the scrub, along roads and even into backyards searching for more permanent water sources - making them very visible and easy to capture. Bankerreng is prime fishing time for Barramundi and other fish species, and occasion- ally turtles will fall foul of a baited hook during fishing trips. Few local people target turtles during this time of year, but if they are found they do not escape the menu. An occasional exception comes when word travels that large numbers of Ngalmangiyi and Ngarrderrhwo are on the move. This does not happen often, but when it does families will travel for several hours to enjoy the easy pickings. As the creeks and floodplains shrink into the cold and then the hot dry seasons, Wurrkeng and Kurrung (between June and October), the turtles seek refuge and are concentrated in and along the banks of billabongs and slow-moving rivers, and in the lower-lying areas of the floodplains. They will not move from these areas until the rains return. For unknown reasons, C. rugosa will bury themselves up to 20cm deep in the ground across the floodplains; this includes areas immediately adjacent to swamps and billabongs long before they have lost access to that water. The other species of turtles will re- main in the waterbodies and bury themselves only when there is no longer any permanent water available.