More than 60 volunteers are helping eastern long-necked turtles migrate through the predator-proof fence at Mulligans Flat Woodlands Sanctuary near Forde.
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Inside the sanctuary turtles are protected from foxes, which has enabled them to increase their breed. Turtles often migrate to different waterholes when breeding, and University of Canberra researchers found during 16 months of study many turtles had died.
The most common cause of death along the pest-exclusion fence was overheating, followed by attacks by predators outside of the fence, car collisions on the adjoining service road, and entanglement.
Mulligans Flat Sanctuary ecologist Dr Kate Grarock says turtles migrate at different times of the year. In wet periods they go to smaller swamps, in drier times they go for the bigger dams, like Yerrabi Pond in Gungahlin.
"There are heaps of turtles going from Yerrabi to Mulligans and there are a heck of a lot of roads between there and Mulligans. So it is a bit of a gauntlet for them," Dr Grarock said.
"Sometimes they are trying to get in to the sanctuary, sometimes they are trying to get out of Mulligans."
Foxes can consume over 90 per cent of turtle eggs outside of protected areas. So sanctuaries such as Mulligans Flat are a safe haven for turtle breeding so long as the adult turtles are able to move about from one waterhole to another.
Project officer Emily Belton says turtle patrol volunteers play a key role.
"We were absolutely overwhelmed by the fantastic response from the Canberra community, with more than 160 people contacting us about assisting on the project," Ms Belton said.
"Since October, 62 people have been trained to carry out turtle patrols and 209 turtles have been relocated." Ms Belton said.
Some volunteers signed up for turtle patrols on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. "This is brilliant as turtles can be quite active at this time of year," Ms Belton said.
Dr Grarock says the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust which administers Mulligans Flat is a small organisation reliant on volunteers to get jobs like this done.
"Having people from volunteer to do the patrols on Christmas Day and New Year's Day is pure gold, as turtles don't go on holidays," Dr Grarock said.
