In New Guinea, Carettochelys insculpta inhabits rivers, including their deltas and estuarine reaches, grassy lagoons, swamps, lakes, and waterholes of the southern lowlands (Eisemberg et al. 2015a, b). In Australia, the species appears restricted to seasonally clear, shallow, continuously-flowing waters of the Daly drainage and to billabongs and plunge pools of the Alligator Rivers region (Webb et al. 1986; Georges and Kennett 1989; Doody et al. 2001a, 2002; Georges et al. 2008). The species is omnivorous, but feeds principally on fruits, leaves, and stems of riparian vegetation, and aquatic plants, with some molluscs, crustaceans, insects, fish, and mammals (likely eaten as carrion) also consumed (Georges et al. 2008, and references therein). Carettochelys females may reach up to 57 cm carapace length (CL) and mature at 38 cm CL (Daly River) to 41 cm (Kikori region) or larger. Maturity in females appears to be reached at about 25 yrs, with generation time of ca 30–40 years (Heaphy 1990).

Female turtles nest gregariously at night on riverside or coastal marine sandbanks, and appear to produce two clutches every second year, with a non-reproducing year in between (Doody et al. 2003a, b, 2009; Georges et al. 2008). Depending on location, average clutch size ranges from 10 (Daly River, Australia) to 21 eggs (Kikori region, Papua New Guinea), with a range of 7 to 26 or more. This species exhibits embryonic diapause and temperature-dependent sex determination, with females produced at warmer temperatures and males at lower temperatures (Webb et al. 1986, Young et al. 2004). Hatching is triggered by anoxia associated with torrential rain or flooding of the nest, and can expedited by sibling vibrations (Doody et al. 2001b, 2012). Incubation duration averages 65 days in Papua New Guinea and 72 days on the Daly River in Australia. Hatchlings measure 41–56 mm CL and weigh 21–30 g. Natural egg loss rates can be high from predation (up to 25%), notably by goannas (Doody et al. 2006), and flooding (up to 20%), or intrinsic issues (infertility, developmental problems, also up to 20%) (Georges et al. 2008, and references therein). The invasion of Cane Toads in 2003 into the Daly River boosted C. insculpta recruitment by ca 20% via population declines of Yellow-spotted Monitor Lizards (Doody et al. 2006). Predation of adults occurs by Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus).

Carettochelys insculpta occurs in the rivers of southern New Guinea (both Papua, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea) and the rivers of the Northern Territory of Australia, where it occurs in the Victoria, Daly,  Fitzmaurice, East Alligator, and South Alligator river systems, and possibly in other rivers. In New Guinea it occurs from the Gulf Province in Papua New Guinea to the Mimika region of western Papua, Indonesia; records from further west in West Papua at Lake Jamur appear to represent trade specimens (Iverson 1992, Cann 1998, Rhodin and Genorupa 2000, Georges et al. 2008, TTWG 2017).

Carettochelys insculpta was first listed in the 1982 IUCN Red Data Book as Insufficiently Known (Rose et al. 1982), then uplisted to Vulnerable on the 1996 Red List. It was included in CITES Appendix II in 2004, restricting international trade to quantities that should not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild. It is protected in Kakadu NP in Australia by the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, and elsewhere in the Northern Territory by the Territory Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1982. In Papua New Guinea, export is strictly controlled, but domestic exploitation is largely unregulated. In West Papua, Indonesia, harvest of eggs for incubation and subsequent export of hatchlings as ‘captive-bred’ is managed by a quota system, while protective measures to prevent exploitation of mature animals is rarely enforced (Rhodin and Genorupa 2000, Samedi and Iskandar 2000, Georges et al. 2008, and references therein).

Significant subpopulations of pig-nosed turtles have been confirmed to inhabit Kakadu NP, Flora River Nature Park, and several Conservation Areas in the Northern Territory, Australia (Georges et al. 2008). It has been recorded from Papua New Guinea from Tonda WMA (Georges et al. 2008, and references therein), and Wasur and Lorentz National  Parks in Indonesian Papua (Samedi and Iskandar 2000).

Future conservation priorities include further population status surveys across key parts of the range and biological and sociological research aimed at developing sustainable management schemes for harvest of eggs (and possibly a few adults) for subsistence consumption, and eggs/hatchlings for the pet trade, combined with increased enforcement of regulations to address illegal and unsustainable trade.

Priority areas for conservation of C. insculpta have been identified in the Kikori Region of Papua New Guinea (Eisemberg et al. 2015c). A monitoring, protection, and education program (Piku Project) has being implemented and is ongoing in the Kikori region since 2009. Conservation action led by the Piku Project in Kikori includes community engagement and awareness programs, in collaboration with local authorities and schools. Community initiatives also include the Wau Creek Protected Area, which is now locally recognized and undergoing the process of gazettal as a nationally recognized protected area. Wau Creek is one of the major upstream C. insculpta nesting areas. A ban on harvest of turtles and eggs has been implemented by its landowners (Rupahai clan), during the nesting season.