Other names: Short-necked Tortoise
Scientific Name: Pseudemydura umbrina
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Length (nose to tail): 11–13 cm
Weight: 300–450 g
Incubation: 6 months
Number of eggs: 3–5

Distribution: Swan valley, Western Australia
Habitat: Swamps (ephemeral).

Description: 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.

Diet: Western Swamp Tortoises are carnivores and eat small invertebrates.

In the wild: Tortoises live in swamps that only fill during the winter and spring. While the swamps contain water, the tortoises swim around and feed on small aquatic invertebrates, tadpoles and frogs. When the swamps are dry they aestivate in holes in the ground or under deep leaf litter.

Threats: The Western Swamp Tortoise is the most endangered Australian reptile. 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.

At Perth Zoo: Perth Zoo’s Native Species Breeding Program has been breeding Western Swamp Tortoises since the 1990s. Over 400 have been successfully released into the wild. You can see Western Swamp Tortoises in the Australian
Wetlands.

Did you know? The Western Swamp Tortoise was feared extinct for over 100 years. By chance they were rediscovered in 1953 and found to still live in two small habitats in the Swan Valley.