He said programs like this come at a time when the ancient animals are under threat.

“So that’s why this project is absolutely critical for the survival of the species.”

Why are these turtles under threat?

“They don’t have maternal care, so they deposit their eggs on the riverbank and the female returns to the water,” she said. “The eggs are very vulnerable to foxes.”

Billy Collett, operations manager at Aussie Ark, holding a Hunter River turtle egg.

Dillon said his team has two different approaches to protecting the baby turtles, the first of which involves removing the eggs from the threat of foxes.

“Just this season, we’ve produced 1,085 babies, and during our program over the last few years, we’ve produced now just over 3,800 hatchlings and returned them to the waterways.”

Conservationist Billy Collett said his organisation, Aussie Ark, are working to save endangered freshwater turtle species from extinction. Source: Supplied / Aussie Ark

The other method the university and local land services are using involves protecting the nesting sites themselves.

Dr Mariana Campbell, a research lecturer specialising in animal science at Charles Darwin University, said this had a major impact on their population.

She said these efforts have resulted in thousands of young Mary River turtles re-entering the river every year.