Her name is Manny. She is a juvenile female and, as Tim Faulkner, general manager and head of conservation of the ARP and Aussie Ark says, she is the first of her kind to arrive at any conservation organisation in Australia, or the world.

Manny was one of a pair that were illegally poached and seized by authorities. Sadly, she is the only one of the pair to survive.

She was handed over to Tim and Dan Rumsey, head of reptiles at ARP, at the recent launch of the Manning River Turtle Project and crowd funding campaign in Wingham.

Members of the public who turned up at the launch were given the unexpected bonus of seeing Manny as a live specimen.

As an endangered species that is only found in the upper and middle catchment areas of the Manning River, the Manning River turtle is at risk of extinction.

The ARP and Aussie Ark have joined forces to create an insurance population of the turtle, just like those of the Tasmanian devils at Devil Ark, and populations of other threatened species at Aussie Ark. The program is similar to the Taronga Zoo and Symbio Wildlife Park Bellinger River turtle program.

To help build the facilities to house and breed the insurance population, Aussie Ark initiated a crowd funding campaign on pozible.com. The target was $110,000 to be raised in 30 days.

The campaign ended on Friday afternoon, September 21, with a total of $110,689, which means the breeding facilities can now be built.

Wingham business, Aus Eco Solutions was one of four donors who signed up to become a project partner for a donation of $8000.

“The reason that we were so excited about doing this project is obviously the turtles are an indicator of the health of the whole ecosystem and that’s what work we do, and that’s what we’re passionate about,” Aus Eco Solutions co-owner Kerrie Guppy said.

“It just makes so much sense because it just fits with what we do.

“It’s so exciting to partner with someone like Aussie Ark who are doing amazing things with lots of different species.”