VulnerableMojave Desert Tortoise
Gopherus agassizii
One of the 41 turtles and tortoises on WAnimals
Reptiles · Testudines · Testudinidae
Gopherus polyphemus
At high risk of extinction in the wild over the medium term.
The gopher tortoise is a land tortoise of the south-eastern United States that digs burrows more than ten metres long and several metres deep. Those tunnels are the hub of its whole ecosystem: more than three hundred species use them as shelter from fire, cold and predators, which makes it an ecosystem engineer of the first order.
Weight
4 kg – 6 kg
Size
23 cm – 38 cm
Life expectancy
60 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
Solitary
Lives and hunts alone, joining others only to breed.
Sighting difficulty
Moderate
Sources consulted: https://www.iucnredlist.org/ | https://animaldiversity.org/ | https://es.wikipedia.org/
The pins mark the parks where its presence is documented.
Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented.
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Gopher Tortoise — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
The gopher tortoise is classified as vulnerable. Organisations such as the IUCN, WWF and the Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programmes is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 3 protected areas — one reason why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Based on what we already know about gopher tortoise.
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