04-17-2024, 03:36 PM
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens raised 70 Mohave Desert Tortoises in a head start program.
The eggs are laid by female tortoises in human care. The hatchlings were raised indoors for 6 months which allowed them to grow faster.
Then they were kept in a protected outdoor environment before being released to the wild. The 70 tortoises released adapted well to the wild. They even dug their own burrows and survived the winter.
There is a second group of tortoises being raised who will be released in 6 months.
https://people.com/70-endangered-tortois...%20Desert.
I am happy to hear about the success of the tortoises in the wild. The head start program does give them a big advantage. They are much larger at a younger age and less vulnerable to predators. The Mohave Desert Tortoises are essential to the ecosystem and finding a way to restore their numbers will help the health of their desert habitats. Hopefully they can restore them to their whole natural range.
The eggs are laid by female tortoises in human care. The hatchlings were raised indoors for 6 months which allowed them to grow faster.
Then they were kept in a protected outdoor environment before being released to the wild. The 70 tortoises released adapted well to the wild. They even dug their own burrows and survived the winter.
There is a second group of tortoises being raised who will be released in 6 months.
https://people.com/70-endangered-tortois...%20Desert.
I am happy to hear about the success of the tortoises in the wild. The head start program does give them a big advantage. They are much larger at a younger age and less vulnerable to predators. The Mohave Desert Tortoises are essential to the ecosystem and finding a way to restore their numbers will help the health of their desert habitats. Hopefully they can restore them to their whole natural range.