Download Desert Tortoise

Desert Tortoise
Caleb Buck
Description
Land turtle with a brown 6 sided carapace
Lives in desert and waste areas
Diet- low laying plants and leaves
Active in the morning hours during summer and at
night fall during the winter
• Threatened species since August 20, 1980
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Habitat
• Lives in the Mojave desert region
• Prefers semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert
washes, canyon bottoms, and on rocky hillsides
• Historically located in southeastern California,
the southern tip of Nevada, extreme southwest
Utah, and western Arizona
• Drastic decrease in the California population
and endangerment in Utah
History and Conservation
• An average of 200 adult desert tortoises per square mile in the
‘50s
• Original conservation started in 1971 in California City, CA (The
Desert Tortoise Natural Area)
• Mojave Desert population was considered endangered in 1989
• 1989 quarantined part of southwest, CA in the Ridgecrest County
for a year
• A program was developed to by the Navy to conserve the habitat
in the Mojave area in 1997 protecting tortoises
Factors
• Threats to the desert tortoise this far have been a result of
humans
• Main reasons for loss of population is loss of habitat, over
collection, and destruction
• Raven numbers have increased in desert areas which have been a
large predator of the desert tortoise
• Testing done by the Navy in parts of southwest California
Current State
• 100,000 Desert Tortoises estimated to be alive
today
• There are 5-60 adults per square mile
• There has been over a 90% decrease in
population size in certain areas since the 1950’s
• Some of the tortoises alive today could be up to
80-90 years in age
• A lack of water in the Mojave Desert area has
recently decreased the population
Results
• I believe that overall the conservation of Desert Tortoises is a
tough job. Considering most of the damage is in relation to
humans, it is up to society to change. If people can begin to
respect the habitat more, tortoises will have a chance of getting
out of the threatened label. The results of conservation have been
proven affective but still not enough to grow the population back
to a previous state.
Works Cited
Https://www.facebook.com/DefendersofWildlife/. "Basic Facts
About Desert Tortoises." Defenders of Wildlife. N.p., 10 Apr.
2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
"Desert Tortoise." Beacham's Guide to the Endangered Species of
North America. Encyclopedia.com, n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2016.