GIANT LEATHERY TURTLE

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27037, 12 May 1953, Page 11

GIANT LEATHERY TURTLE

SPECIMEN BROUGHT TO NEW ZEALAND “The Press" Special Service AUCKLAND. May 10. A giant leathery turtle landed in Auckland recently from the Wanganella towed its captor’s boat 36 miles and put up a mighty battle before it reached an embalmer’s bench in the Sydney zoo, according to the owner, an Australian showman, who brought it to New Zealand. When it reached Auckland, the turtle was finally given an entry permit after the port stock inspector had puzzled over its case and decided that it was a fish of some sort. Mr A. W. B. Powell, assistant director of the Auckland Museum, said that the leathery turtle is the sole survivor of a group of fossil species differing from all other living species in the form of carapace or “shell”, and seems to be nearing extinction. The leathery turtle has a tough ribbed hide and when partly submerged in its Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean “habitat,” it looks like an upturned clinker-built dinghy. There are four recorded instances of leathery turtles in New Zealand waters. The new arrival was caught in a nest of lobster pots at Bermaguee, a deepsea fishing resort on the New South Wales coast. Dragged to the surface it gave fight and, according to the showman, towed the fishermen’s boat 36 miles before surrendering. On shot? it revived, renewed the attack, and had to be knocked senseless. It was cured at the Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney.

When landed in Auckland it was fitted neatly into a trailer measuring roughly seven feet by four feet. Its hide hag the smooth polish of patent leather and the big nobbly head still has a full complement of needle-like teeth. They cover the roof of the mouth like a pin-cushion. The upper jaw is serrated. The reptile is reputed to have weighed H tons.