Entries by Tanya Marwood

Tortoise Tales #35 (2023)

Aveley Primary School students recently performed a story about the Western Swamp Tortoise at a festival and won an award.

Education team: Q&A time with Gooseberry Hill Primary School students

Learning about the WST with the Year 5 students. Cathy Levett took questions from the children and grouped them according to topic, then answered them as follows. Q: How fast do they move? How fast are they in the water / on land? Not very fast on land but when they get to the water they […]

Chairperson’s report, 2022

On the 31st of August, 147 tortoises were released at Moore River NP. There were over 70 participants, many new members of the group. A further 40 tortoises were released down at Scott River NP. An e-news bulletin has been initiated as the committee is keen to involve people all over WA in the work […]

Kids creating their own books about the WST

With the encouragement of educator Cathy Levett (Vice-chair of the Friends group), Year 5 student Jennifer Wilcox recently sent us the activity book she created, which we will be sharing via the website and Facebook. We’ve previously featured All Because I Crossed the Road by student Rachael Wu. Another student, Neeve Blackham-Jennings, also wrote and […]

Western Swamp Tortoises on the move

In addition to losing much of their habitat on the Swan Coastal Plain, our tortoises face the additional threat of climate change, as the seasonal swamps they inhabit will hold water for increasingly shorter periods of time. Recovery of the western swamp tortoise depends on securing and drought-proofing high-quality habitat in their indigenous range (in […]

Protecting habitat in City of Swan

Protecting habitat in City of Swan The Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise became aware of an Amendment (132) to be presented to the City of Swan late last year concerning Ellen Brook and Twin Swamps Nature Reserves. Our Chairperson, Jan Bant, addressed the Councillors at an Agenda meeting on 10 November 2021, speaking on […]