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Red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta elegans)

A pet-trade turtle that has been found in the wild in Queensland and New South Wales. It competes with native turtles and could spread disease.

Key facts

Type: Pest animal, reptile.

Native to: United States and Mexico.

Established in: QLD, NSW.

Identification

  • Olive to brown shell with yellow lines.
  • A distinctive red or orange stripe behind each eye.

Where it lives

Urban lakes, ponds and slow waterways.

Why it matters

  • Competition with native turtles.
  • Disease risk to native turtles and frogs.

How it spreads

  • Illegal keeping and release of pets.

Control methods

  • Report sightings to the state biosecurity agency within the required time.
  • Capture by authorised officers.

Site hygiene and welfare

  • Do not keep or release red-eared sliders.
  • Use methods set out in the national model codes of practice and standard operating procedures for the species.
  • Coordinate control with neighbours and the local government biosecurity plan, as isolated effort is quickly undone by reinvasion.

Classification by state

  • Australia (national): No national listing. Managed under state and territory law.
  • Queensland: Restricted matter, categories 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Report it to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours; do not give it away, sell or release it into the environment; do not move it; do not keep it; do not feed it. Everyone must also take all reasonable and practical steps to minimise its risks (the general biosecurity obligation).
  • New South Wales: Prohibited dealing. It must not be kept, sold or released in NSW except for approved exhibition or research. The general biosecurity duty applies: anyone dealing with it must prevent, eliminate or minimise the risk it poses.
  • Victoria: Controlled pest animal. It is a controlled pest animal in Victoria, so it can only be kept in high security collections under permit. Report any sighting to Agriculture Victoria.
  • South Australia: Declared animal. Declared animals have legal restrictions, which can cover keeping, moving, selling and releasing them, and landowners may be required to control them.
  • Western Australia: Declared pest (C1), prohibited. C1 Exclusion: to be kept out of WA, or out of the parts of WA where it is not established. Report any sighting to DPIRD. It must not be brought into WA (prohibited organism).
  • Tasmania: Not a declared pest. Not a declared pest or prohibited matter in Tasmania. Importing animals is still controlled by Biosecurity Tasmania.
  • Northern Territory: Prohibited wildlife. It is prohibited wildlife in the NT and must not be kept or brought in without a permit.
  • Australian Capital Territory: Declared pest, prohibited. It is a declared pest throughout the ACT. Dealing with it, such as selling, moving or keeping it, is prohibited.

Legal obligations

Every state and territory places a duty on landholders and people working on land to prevent the spread of invasive species, such as the general biosecurity obligation in Queensland and the general biosecurity duty in New South Wales. Declarations and control requirements differ between states and local government areas, so check the current official list before work starts.

  • Queensland: Biosecurity Act 2014 (Qld), administered by Biosecurity Queensland (13 25 23)
  • New South Wales: Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW), administered by NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development

Sources