Saving Rare Tortoise: Biologists’ Efforts To Stabilize North America’s Largest Reptile

The Bolson tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) is a massive reptile that lives on land and can reach up to 45 kilograms (100 pounds) and 50 centimeters (20 inches) in size.

It is the biggest and scarcest land reptile, as well as the most endangered of the six Gopherus species that are native to North America.

The tortoise is only found in a small area of grasslands and desert scrub in north-central Mexico, where it is threatened by habitat loss, poaching, predation, and climate change.

The tortoise was listed as endangered in 1979 and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to start developing a recovery plan for the species.

A captive breeding and restoration project in New Mexico

(Photo : ERNESTO BENAVIDES/AFP via Getty Images)

To prevent the Bolson tortoise from going extinct, biologists have been working for more than 20 years to set up a captive breeding program and a free-ranging population on Ted Turner's Armendaris Ranch in central New Mexico.

The ranch covers more than 150,000 hectares (360,000 acres) of dry land that offers suitable habitat for the tortoise.

The Turner Endangered Species Fund, a private conservation organization founded by the media mogul, has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, and other agencies to implement the project.

On Friday, September 22, dozens of people attended the release of 20 more adult tortoises on the property, which already hosts 23 of them as well as dozens of juvenile ones.

The tortoises were equipped with radio transmitters and microchips to track their movements and health.

The release was part of a "safe harbor agreement" that offers private landowners protections from regulations in exchange for hosting endangered species on their lands.

The director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said that this agreement can be an example for more creative ways to work within the Endangered Species Act.

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A long-term vision for recovery

The average lifespan of the Bolson tortoise is not known, but biologists have said it could last more than a hundred years.

The tortoise also reproduces slowly, reaching sexual maturity at around 15 years of age and laying only four to eight eggs per year.

Therefore, saving the endangered species is a long game that requires patience and perseverance.

A field supervisor with the Fish and Wildlife Service said that he will not see the outcomes of the breeding and restoration efforts in his lifetime.

He said that they are establishing a population that can be handed off to the next generation.

The ultimate goal is to release the tortoise more widely in the Southwest and restore its historic range that once included parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

The director of the Turner Endangered Species Fund said that he hopes the project will inspire more people to care about the Bolson tortoise and other imperiled species.

He said that they are not just trying to save a tortoise, but a piece of their natural heritage.

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