This episode originally aired on April 10, 2023.
The gopher tortoise is one of five species of tortoises found in North America, and they are the only tortoise naturally found east of the Mississippi River. The gopher tortoise’s range includes southeastern Louisiana east to southern South Carolina, and south to Florida.
They are listed as Threatened here in Florida, but their Florida population is not federally protected — though gopher tortoises are federally protected in the portion of their range in some parts of western Alabama. There have been efforts in recent years to have them federally protected, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently denied a petition to protect them under the Endangered Species Act.
These large, slow moving reptiles are crucial to ecosystems because of the deep burrows they dig and live in. More than 350 other species — known as commensals — take advantage of those burrows for shelter. Their main threats are cars while trying to cross roads, and development that occurs on the land where they live.
April 10 was Gopher Tortoise Day, as designed by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the nonprofit Gopher Tortoise Council. So, we discussed the importance of these large, long-lived reptiles that can be found in all of Florida’s 67 counties.
GUESTS
Dr. Nora Demers, Associate Professor of Biology at Florida Gulf Coast University and a member of the nonprofit Gopher Tortoise Council
Joanna Fitzgerald, Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples
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