Kasandra Ross, from Wilson Botanic Park, with the park’s newest attraction, a tiny Eastern Long Necked Turtle found on one of the park’s walking tracks.By Kelly Yates
A TURTLE hatching the size of a 20-cent piece is Wilson Botanic Park’s latest attraction.
Park staff named the turtle ‘Squirtle’ and Casey arts and leisure manager Robyn Bowen said the community’s response had been delightful.
“Children have been captivated by its minute size, it has been quite a hit,” Ms Bowen said.
The turtle was found by a staff member and a volunteer on one of the many walking tracks in the park in early December.
The public can see the turtle free of charge in the parks visitors centre from 10am to 4pm, every day of the week.
“The turtle is in a fish tank on the reception desk but visitors are not able to handle the turtle as it needs to maintain its fear of people and predators,” Ms Bowen said.
“It will be released back into the park at the end of February.”
The turtle is being fed water bugs which have been caught from the lakes within the park.
“We feed it water bugs such as mayfly nymphs, damselfly nymphs, water boatman, back swimmers, blood worms and mosquito larvae,” she said.
Wilson Botanic Park has two different types of turtle species in the park, the native eastern long necked turtle and the exotic short necked turtle.
