You’re invited! Ecology Talk in Adelaide — Bringing back the mighty Murray Cray to SA

Murray Crayfish, the second largest freshwater crayfish in the world, have been missing from SA for over 40 years. But we are bringing them back! You’re invited to a talk by Dr Sylvia Zukowski, NGT’s senior aquatic ecologist who will be presenting in Adelaide next month. The talk is part of the South Australian Ecology Forum, a series of seminars aiming to connect Adelaide ecologists (but anyone who’s interested can come along). It will be held at the University of Adelaide’s Benham Lecture Theatre, with drinks and light refreshments provided.

Sylvia’s talk will focus on the work to bring back the Murray Crayfish to SA, after it’s 40 year absence in the state (you may have been following this reintroduction story in our previous articles). Sylvia and team (including the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board) first released Murray Crayfish into SA in 2023, and tracked them with acoustic remote trackers and hoop net monitoring to assess the success of the trial reintroduction. After a successful trial more were released in 2024 and 2025. There was even tiny cute baby crayfish involved! Come along and hear Sylvia talk about the trials, collaborations and tribulations of the project and about this interesting and iconic species.

The first seminar for 2025 featuring:

Dr Sylvia Zukowski from Nature Glenelg Trust.
Reintroducing a lost icon – bringing back the mighty Murray Cray to SA.

Date: Thursday, 24 July 2025
Time: Drinks at 5:30pm, presentation at 6:00pm
Location: Benham Lecture Theatre, Benham Laboratories, University of Adelaide (North Terrace Campus)
Drinks and light refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there!
To register for the event please follow this link

The Murray Crayfish Reintroduction Project is a partnership between Nature Glenelg Trust, and the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board through funding from the landscape levies and the Landscape Priorities Fund, with support from New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, and the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC).

The South Australian Ecology Forum is supported by CSIRO, Ecological Associates and The Adelaide University Biology Society of South Australia.