A highway through tortoise habitat? What the Northern Corridor’s revival means for southern Utah

The feds and environmental groups reignite a decades-long fight over how much development a conservation area — and the desert tortoise it was created to protect — can withstand as southwest Utah ...
Off-Road.com on MSN

Federal judge rules to protect desert tortoises from off-road vehicle use in California

In a significant decision that affects off-road vehicle recreation in the western Mojave Desert, a federal judge has ...
Yahoo

Conservation groups file lawsuit to protect gopher tortoises as endangered species

Two conservation groups Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging a decision by federal wildlife officials to reject listing gopher tortoises as endangered or threatened species, saying the burrowing ...
Yahoo

State reptile gopher tortoise's habitat is on the decline

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. ALBANY — Love is in the air for Georgia’s official state reptile, and female gopher tortoises are busy laying clutches of eggs ...

Tortoise’s relatively quick escape from California shed fire caught on camera

The quick escape of a stereotypically slow reptile from a shed fire is getting attention on social media. Leo, a female tortoise, tapped into her speedy side to flee flames that engulfed her backyard ...
WMNF

Lawsuit seeks gopher tortoise protections

TALLAHASSEE — Two conservation groups Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging a decision by federal wildlife officials to reject listing gopher tortoises as endangered or threatened species, saying the ...
IJR

Sixteen Critically Endangered Tortoise Hatchlings Make Debut at Philadelphia Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo just welcomed a new generation of slow-moving royalty — and gave them the red carpet treatment. Sixteen critically endangered western Santa Cruz tortoises made their public debut ...
The Salt Lake Tribune

Biologists survey wildfire destruction on Utah tortoise habitat

St. George • After the Turkey Farm Road Fire fried nearly 12,000 acres north of St. George, Utah, in mid-July, including large swaths of the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area that was set aside in ...
JSTOR Daily

Regression-Tree Modeling of Desert Tortoise Habitat in the Central Mojave Desert

This paper describes an interdisciplinary study of the habitat requirements of threatened desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) on eight 225-ha study plots in a 14 000 ha study area near the southern ...
KUTV

Stayin' alive: Mojave desert tortoise survives two wildfires on his turf

(KUTV) — One tortoise in southern Utah has been through hell and back and lived to tell the tale — through burn marks on his shell. Wildlife biologists shared the story of a Mojave desert tortoise who ...
Newsday

Tortoise hatchlings born of century-old parents come out of their shells at Philadelphia Zoo

PHILADELPHIA — Sixteen critically endangered western Santa Cruz tortoises born to some very old parents got a slow walk and the red carpet treatment Wednesday at a Philadelphia Zoo event to show off ...
Newsweek

Ten Interesting Facts About Tortoises, From Swimming to Hibernation

Generally, tortoises do not swim, according to Andy C. Highfield, author of the Tortoise Trust Guide to Tortoises and Turtles. In the case of commonly kept pet species, "deep water is a serious hazard ...