23/05/2025
🌏🐢 Happy World Turtle Day! 🐢🌏
Today, we’re celebrating Australia’s incredible native turtles, and the dedicated team at our Wildlife Health and Conservation Hospital, who care for sick and injured wild turtles across southwest Sydney.
Some of the most common cases we treat in freshwater turtles include:
💥 Shell fractures – typically from car strikes, treated with pain relief, fluids, and usually requires surgery
🩻 Internal injuries – x-rays guide treatment, especially for nesting females with retained eggs or internal trauma
🐣 Vulnerable hatchlings – young turtles are fragile and receive warmth, fluids, and close monitoring
🎣 Fish hook ingestion – turtles often mistake bait for food; they receive pain relief, anaesthesia, radiographs, and surgical removal of the hook, followed by post-operative care
Did you know? Our hospital is not only a vital treatment facility for native wildlife, but also a dedicated Wildlife Veterinary Teaching Hospital.
As part of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at The University of Sydney, our fourth-year students complete a clinical rotation at our hospital, gaining hands-on experience in examination, imaging, and treatment, developing the skills to care for native wildlife with both expertise and ethical responsibility.
We also work closely with dedicated wildlife carers, who play a crucial role in the long-term rehabilitation of injured turtles, helping them recover and return safely to the wild.
Thank you to everyone who plays a role in protecting our precious turtles. 💚
