Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)

Species information

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Threats

The gopher tortoise’s habitat is created by a fine balance of natural processes such as wildfire, which due to habitat loss and fragmentation can no longer occur. Controlled burning is practised, but this is less effective than wildfire (3). Gopher tortoises have suffered from poaching for meat in the past, but now more commonly for pets. Whilst not harmed, pet gopher tortoises are not able to reproduce and this can therefore lead to serious population declines (3). At the current time, mortality on roads is thought to be the most common cause of human-induced death in gopher tortoises (3).

Conservation

Protection by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has made it illegal to keep gopher tortoises as pets, race them, or remove them from their natural range (3). Conservation of their natural habitat is of the highest priority, and relocation has been used to protect individuals during development of land (2). However, further habitat destruction and fragmentation will not only harm the gopher tortoise, but also the many species that depend on its burrowing habits.