After more than a year on the run, the sneaky little turtle lurking in Tākaka’s Lake Killarney has been taken into custody.

The red-eared slider turtle was spotted in the pond last summer, so a plan was hatched to nab the critter.

Our Biosecurity Team set a special trap, which a dedicated volunteer checked daily but without success last summer. The trap was removed over winter when turtles hibernate.

It was reset in spring and on a sunny Sunday morning in January, the turtle was spotted sitting on top of the trap, and while our volunteer watched, it plopped in.

The average adult turtle weighs around 1kg – this one tipped the scales at 1.4kg so it had obviously been eating well.

Red-eared slider turtles are considered one of the hundred most invasive pest species in the world because they eat anything. They adversely impact aquatic plants, insects, eels, small fish species and ground-nesting birds.

Red-eared slider turtles are an eradication pest species in our Regional Pest Management Plan.

We have also had a recent report of a turtle sighted at Berryfields in Richmond, so keep your eyes peeled. The more reports we get, the more we can prioritise and target trapping efforts.

Send any sightings to [email protected] or call 03 543 8400.