How to Help Protect The Desert Tortoise

The desert tortoise is endangered. It is threatened by urban sprawl and being hit by automobiles. Here is how to help protect it.

Instructions

1. Learn more about desert tortoises. The desert tortoise lives in many areas of the United States. Subspecies can be found from Florida to California and everywhere that it is found it is threatened. Tortoises can live to be up to a hundred years old. They are slow to reproduce and require an area that is quiet and undisturbed to breed.

2. Help a tortoise cross the road. If you see a tortoise crossing the highway, slow to a safe speed and avoid it. If the tortoise is in danger of being hit, and it is safe to pull over, you can attempt to move it to the side of the road in the direction it is crossing. Put on your four way flashers, pull over on the shoulder and using gloves or newspaper, pick up the tortoise and move it. Never put yourself in danger though and do not pull over in areas where it is against the law.

3. Contact your state and national representatives and ask that more areas of desert be set aside so that urban sprawl does not gobble up tortoise habitat. If you have property in the desert, donate it to the Nature Conservancy. For more information on how to protect the desert tortoise contact the organizations in the resource section below.
   If you see ads for desert tortoises in local newspapers or publications like the "Penny Saver" report these to your state's wildlife department. Keeping most species of desert tortoise as a pet is illegal.
   You can "adopt" a desert tortoise at the National Wildlife Federation.

Resources

• NWF Adopt a Tortoise