The official launch of a crowd funding campaign by Aussie Ark and the Australian Reptile Park (ARP) took place at Wingham Memorial Services Club on Tuesday evening, August 21. 

One member of our community who is fully on board with the campaign is Jacaranda Estate’s Mark Smith.

The Wingham vineyard owner has developed a lime infused vodka containing flakes of 24 karat gold he has named ‘Tipsy Turtle Vodka’. The bottle’s label features artwork of the Manning River turtle by local wildlife artist and illustrator Peter Schouten AM. Mark donated 55 bottles of the drop to the crowd funding campaign as a reward option for a donation, and will continue to donate $10 from every bottle of Tipsy Turtle Vodka sold at the cellar door to the cause.

Peter Schouten AM has donated his original painting of the Manning River turtle, framed, as a reward option. For those who would like the painting but can’t afford the original, there are 10 limited edition prints up for the taking.

Rewards are matched to the level of funding commitment and range from $25 for a high resolution image of the turtle with a thank you, up to $8000 to become a project partner. This would suit a corporate donation and would earn the donor naming rights to a breeding pond with a plaque, naming rights of a turtle, a project partner office decal, a VIP tour of the facility once completed, regular email updates on the project’s progress, a high resolution image of your turtle with their name, a turtle talk from the ARP keepers at your work or school, and a video featuring Tim Faulkner with a personal thank you.

The campaign is trying to raise $110,000 and as of Monday, September 3, $31,154 has been raised. There are 17 days left to donate to the campaign.

Take a look at the crowd funding campaign and see what rewards you can score at www.pozible.com/project/save-the-manning-river-turtle-1.