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Desert Tortoise |
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Scientific Name: Gopherus agassizii Place of Origin: Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico Diet: Grasses, herbs, wildflowers, and cacti Predators: Ravens, Gila Monsters, Kit Foxes, Badgers, Roadrunners, Coyotes and fire ants.
THREATENED SPECIES
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The desert tortoise can grow up to 14 inches long and weigh as much as 15 pounds fully grown. They have a life span of 80 to 100 years. There are two different types of desert tortoise, the Mojave and the Sonoran with a possible third type in the Black Mountains of northwest Arizona.
This tortoise is able to live where ground temperature may exceed 140 degrees Fahrenheit because of its ability to dig underground burrows and escape the heat. At least 95% of its life is spent in burrows. There, it is also protected from freezing winter weather while dormant, from November through February or March.
The desert tortoise population has been negatively impacted by upper respiratory tract disease (URTD), cutaneous dyskeratosis, which is a shell disease, and many other diseases common to reptiles. This, along with urbanization of natural habitats has given these reptiles a threatened status in both the California and US endangered species acts. In some areas their numbers have declined by as much as 90 percent. For this reason it is unlawful to touch, harm, harass, or collect wild desert tortoises. It is possible to adopt captive tortoises through local state Tortoise Adoption Programs.
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