Research as part of the New South Wales Government’s Saving our Species program reveals dingoes are helping the endangered Manning River Helmeted turtles survive by preying on foxes who are a major threat to the freshwater turtles.
Office of Environment and Heritage researcher Andrew Steed says surveys in 2018 found 87 turtles while the surveys done in March and April this year found a further 188 turtles at 47 sites including a new location.
Mr Steed says this means turtles are living in new locations, a good sign they are defying the odds and populating different river systems, making the species less susceptible to extinction.
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