Small, cute turtles ‘virtually wiped out’ are back at it again and it’s delightful

Go on the lads.

If you've never seen a photo of a turtle and thought, 'wow that is a cute turtle' then what are you absolutely doing with your life? They are cute, they are nice to hold in your hand, they are special and adorable, and anybody who thinks otherwise is essentially incorrect. Soz to break it to you. There are some things though that make certain turtles even cuter than other turtles. Maybe they have nicer eyes. Maybe they are more playful. Or maybe they were on the brink of extinction but now they're back at it and even cuter than ever. Yeah, that'll do it. These snapping turtles were deemed critically endangered back in 2015 when an unknown disease made them very sick. The little lads were almost wiped out entirely and then a zoo in Sydney showed up and helped them back on their road to recovery. The Taronga Zoo is doing their best to save the species by rescuing the small number of turtles that were left and entering them into a breeding programme. These specific turtles were born in the zoo last year and although they won't be able to start breeding themselves for another decade, the zoo is hopefully that the species will be saved. Writing on Facebook, they said their plan is to eventually release the turtles back where they came from.

"We have established a growing insurance population, with a second clutch of 31 eggs hatching this year. "The long term goal of this breeding program is to reintroduce Bellinger River Turtles back into the wild."

Stunning.