Turtles on the move — Learn how you can help our turtles this spring

Q. Why do turtles cross the road?

(No, this isn’t a joke)
A. It’s because it’s the beginning of turtle nesting season!
In November, Eastern Long-necked Turtles (Chelodina longicollis) often go wandering looking for the right waterbody and nesting site. You’ll find them in most parts of Southern SA and Victoria.

They’re not to be mistaken for Murray Short-necked Turtles (Emydura macquarii) which are larger and have an all cream coloured underside (plastron). Murray Short-necked Turtles, as their name suggests, are native to the River Murray, but some pet turtles have been released illegally to other areas. Short-necked turtles occasionally emerge from the water to bask or to find another water body. Board-shelled Turtles (Chelodina expansa) are the largest of the three species and native to the River Murry and only emerge from the water to nest.

Female turtles dig their nests to lay eggs within a short window of time around the first November thunderstorm or heavy rain, and we start to see the Eastern Long-necked Turtle wandering across roads or paddocks from October. You can find them in a variety of different water bodies, from permanent rivers, lakes or farm dams, to temporary wetlands. A major threat to turtles is fox predation, especially to freshly laid eggs, where they are often dug up within 24 hours of being laid. You can see the remains of a turtle after it has been preyed in by a fox below:.

Currently there is insufficient data to assess the conservation status of Eastern long-neck turtles. The Murrayland and Riverland Landscapes Board, TURTLE Project and TurtleSAT aim to gather more information about turtles in any region. TurtleSAT is a mobile app to report turtle sightings, which will help identify hot spots and nest sites. Very little is known about Eastern long-neck turtles in the south east of SA specifically. If you come across a turtle or nest site (preyed on or not), please record it in TurtleSAT.

So what should you do if you see a turtle crossing the road? If it is safe to do so, pull over, take note of the direction it is travelling and move it to the side of the road it was moving towards.

If you have any knowledge of Eastern long-neck turtles in the south east of SA, Jess would love to hear from you by email via

This project is supported by the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board and a range of partners with funding from the South Australian Government’s Landscape Priorities Fund