Human Terrain was granted rare access to film these elusive species in their dwindling habitats, working alongside natural resource managers, Traditional Owners, and local landholders who have become unlikely guardians of prehistory. Our cameras descended into tea-coloured waters where lungfish - unchanged for 100 million years - still surface to breathe ancient air. We waited in pre-dawn darkness for Mary River turtles to emerge, their algae-covered shells making them look like river stones come to life. We documented the mottled patterns of juvenile cod lurking in shadowed pools, tracked the ghostly movements of white-throated snapping turtles in pools threatened by collapsing banks, and captured the unexpected appearance of a platypus - that evolutionary enigma - foraging along moonlit banks.

What emerged was a portrait of an ecosystem where innovative conservation is making real headway—riverine restoration stabilising banks and regenerating critical habitats, while species protection measures like nest guards, artificial spawning logs, and head-starting programmes give endangered animals a fighting chance. These proven interventions show what's possible when science, community, and Traditional knowledge unite, yet they urgently need the resources to scale from isolated successes to catchment-wide recovery.