| The Desert Tortoise Needs Your Help!
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3/31/99 BLM Press Release: Its spring time, and desert tortoises are emerging from their winter burrows to enjoy the warm weather and to feast on spring annuals and leafy perennials. Federally listed as a threatened species, the desert tortoise is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
"Many factors have contributed to the decline of the desert tortoise which include; rapid urbanization and the subsequent loss of habitat on private lands, people collecting tortoises for pets or food, road kills, vandalism, indiscriminate off-highway-vehicle travel, increased predation, and disease and livestock grazing," said California Desert District Manager Tim Salt.
"At The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), we are working with other agencies and private groups to protect the tortoise. But we need your help"!
If you find a tortoise in the desert, respect its privacy and space. You may take pictures, get down and look at it from a respective distance, but do not touch or harass the animal.
Never return a pet tortoise to the wild. It may not survive, and if it is sick, it could cause many other tortoises to die. Releasing a tortoise into the wild is a violate of the ESA.
Never take a wild tortoise home for a pet. If you want a pet tortoise, call the BLM to locate your nearest California Turtle and Tortoise club. You must get a permit from an adoption program approved by the Department of Fish and Game to keep a desert tortoise.
Do not pick up a tortoise unless it is in imminent danger. When scared, tortoises empty their bladders and lose moisture essential for survival. Loss of fluid dehydrate the tortoise and could cause it to die.
Drive slowly and alertly on desert roads and stay on existing routes of travel so that you don't
accidentally crush a tortoise.
Under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, anyone who "takes" a desert tortoise is subject to civil and/or criminal penalties of up to a $100,000 fine or one year in jail, or both. The law defines "taking" as harassing, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping,
capturing, or collecting, or attempting to engage in such activities.
Report any vandalism, harassment, or collecting to your local BLM office or call the California Department of Fish and Game's "CalTip" number: 1-800-953-5400. Spread the word! Together, we can help the desert tortoise to survive. For more information call the Bureau of Land Management's California Desert District: 951-697-5200.
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