Two red-eared slider turtles – a hatchling and a more mature specimen.
Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Visitors to Hamilton Gardens can go reptile spotting at Turtle Lake, but the red-eared slider turtles the lake is named after are a global pest that don’t belong in New Zealand’s waterways.
The Global Invasive Species Group ranked red turtles as one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species more than 20 years ago.
Turtle Lake is not the only waterway in Waikato where unwanted reptiles can be found and Danielle Kruger from the Waikato Regional Council says none of our freshwater environments have evolved to adapt to their presence.
She said it was a big problem.
“It’s not likely that native species will see them as a food source since they haven’t encountered anything like it,” he said.
Rather than being a food source for native species, they are a competitor for food.
“We have an ecosystem that is already under stress for many other reasons and it’s just one more organism to compete with.”
His message to turtle owners was simple – please don’t put them in our waterways.
“They don’t belong here, they don’t belong in our waterways.”
Turtle Lake in Hamilton Gardens is full of red-eared slider turtles.
Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
RNZ asked some visitors to Turtle Lake what they thought of the wild turtles – and they tended to think the town should live and let live with the turtles.
“If we brought them here, we should take care of them … as long as they don’t breed and create too much hollow, leave them alone,” said one.
But the problem was breeding, said University of Waikato Associate Professor of Biodiversity and Ecology Nick Ling.
He said there was evidence that red-eared turtles were now able to breed in the wild in the Waikato region after a population in the Coromandel was found to be created in 2015.
“Later, we found that they are much more widespread than we originally thought, and that breeding occurs in many different places.”
The turtle sculptures in the lake.
Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Ling said he was really concerned about the impact the turtles could have on the already stressed freshwater environment, pointing out that a female can lay 400 eggs in her lifetime.
Auckland has banned the breeding, distribution and sale of turtlesbut they can also be easily bought in Waikato.
The National Pest Pet Biosecurity Accord was created in 2015 to bring a national approach to the problem of pests.
Ling said it would help if the turtle was listed on the agreement. But something about the agreement needed to be in the registry of unwanted organisms, which would have undesirable consequences for animal owners.
“If you were to make red slider-eared turtles an unwanted organism in New Zealand, what you would do is instantly criminalize all those people who have turtles as pets,” said Ling.
University of Waikato Associate Professor of Biodiversity and Ecology Nick Ling with two red turtles.
Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
No animals have been added to the Agreement List in the last nine years.
Biosecurity New Zealand’s director of preparedness and response John Walsh said it was a complicated issue.
“The Agreement, published in 2015, was a memorandum of understanding that signals the intention/commitment to jointly carry out further work, especially around the priority of pests. However, despite our efforts , it has been difficult to get all parties to agree on how to implement the Agreement. , which is why we consider it still a work in progress.”
Ling said it would be a good start if the agreement can become a usable tool to prevent the sale of red turtles. But with the turtles breeding in the Waikato, there was still a lot of work to be done.
