Animal Fact Sheets
Western Swamp Tortoise (Pseudemydura umbrina)

With its short neck and smaller size, the Western Swamp Tortoise is easily distinguished from the common long-necked Oblong Tortoise, which also lives in the south-west of Western Australia.

Western Swamp Tortoises have a brown or black shell, a short neck covered by tuberacles (knobbles), webbed toes with five claws on each foot and they are yellow with black dots underneath. Adults can grow to 13 cm and weigh between 300 and 450 grams.

Breeding and Lifecycle
The Western Swamp Tortoise lives in ephemeral swamps that fill with water in winter and spring but are dry in summer and autumn. When the swamps are filled with water, the tortoises feed on small aquatic invertebrates. When the swamps are dry, they aestivate in holes in the ground of under deep leaf litter.

The Western Swamp Tortoise takes 8-15 years to reach sexual maturity. Females lay between one and five hard-shelled eggs in late spring and, after burying the eggs near the edges of the swamp, take no further care of them. The young hatch after six months from late autumn to early winter of the following year and are about the size of a 10 cent coin.

Habitat and Distribution
These rare tortoises are only found in the Swan Valley, Western Australia in ephemeral swamps.

Diet
Western Swamp Tortoises are carnivores and eat small invertebrates.

Threats to Survival
Conservation Status: Critically Endangered.

The Western Swamp Tortoise is one of the rarest reptiles in Australia. Western Swamp Tortoises are threatened by habitat destruction. They are only found in a few places in the Swan Valley and if these swamps were filled in, the tortoises would not survive. Feral predators like cats, rats and foxes also eat tortoises and tortoise eggs. The Western Swamp Tortoises was presumed extinct from 1840 until 1953 when it was rediscovered. Since then, these tortoises have only been found in two small areas of natural habitat—Twin Swamps and Ellen Brook Nature Reserves.

Perth Zoo’s Native Species Breeding Program has been breeding Western Swamp Tortoises since the 1990s. They have successfully released over 400 into the wild. Initial problems breeding the animals were overcome by refining the diet and providing the opportunity to aestivate. Ultrasound is now used to determine the reproductive ability of the females.

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