Desert Tortoise Population Dwindles
Posted on: Monday, 26 May 2008, 16:06 CDT

The Desert Tortoise, which has lived and maintained virtually the same look for over 200 million years, is now dwindling in the southwestern desert of Utah. The population of this fascinating creature has decreased substantially in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve since 2000. Eight years ago there were an estimated 3,200 tortoises roaming the reserve’s 62,000 acres, and now that number has dropped to 1,700.

A biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources in St. George, Ann McLuckie, is concerned about the species which spends 95 percent of its time underground. She is fascinated by the tortoise; its shell can span 15 inches across, it bobs its head oddly during courtship, and it makes bizarre hissing, grunting, and whooping noises.

The Desert Tortoise is federally protected and lives predominantly in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve in Utah’s Washington County, which was established 12 years ago to protect wildlife from human intrusion . The species has benefited from this protection, but has fallen prey to other circumstances.

The Desert Tortoise, although a desert dweller, can only live so long during a drought. When freestanding water dries, the tortoise eats less and tends to weaken, due to their inability to digest food and expel salt.

Other predators such as fires which destroy the primary food sources of the tortoise - cacti, grasses, and wildflowers - threaten their longevity.

Coyotes have also become predators; as recent fires have destroyed their primary food sources, they have shifted their diets to tortoises. According to McLuckie, the Desert Tortoise is feeling the long term impacts of a large fire which spread through the reserve in 2005.

Due to stress from fire and drought, there is a concern that the already-weak tortoises may be more susceptible to an upper respiratory infection, which was first discovered in Utah’s tortoise population in the 1970s. McLuckie says that stress in a population can “exacerbate the disease”.

Roy Averill-Murray, desert tortoise recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Reno, Nevada, is especially concerned with the mortality rates in the Red Cliffs area. In the past, it was seen as a stronghold for the Desert Tortoise, but its density has decreased and mortality rates have increased in the past few years.

Bringing more tortoises to the area has been informally proposed, but keeping track of the animals can be difficult due to the percentage of time they spend underground. Tracking devices are affixed to some of the tortoises. Averill-Murray claimed, "We know they can live 60 years in the wild and even longer in captivity. They can even live longer than the researchers studying them."

Southern Utah tortoise population continues decline

Associated Press - May 23, 2008 7:05 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - It's been a tough few years for the desert tortoises in Utah's southwestern corner.

According to new figures, the number of tortoises living in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve continues to fall.

http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp...73702&nav=menu554_2

Eight years ago, there were more than 3,200 adult tortoises living on the 62,000-acre reserve. Now, state officials say there are around 1,700.

A state biologist attributes the decline to fire, drought, disease and other factors.

Right now the U.S. Senate is considering legislation (S. 2834) that would permanently protect a spectacular stretch of wildlands in southwestern Utah. But the bill doesn’t go nearly
far enough and we need your help to make it stronger — before the Senate casts its vote!

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction and tell your senators to oppose S. 2834 unless its flaws are
fixed.

As written now, the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act fails to protect over half of the county’s proposed wilderness-quality lands.

In addition, the bill does not sufficiently protect desert tortoise habitat in the Mojave Desert or currently protected wilderness-quality lands near Zion National Park against damage
from off-road vehicles.

The bill also proposes to sell off up to 14 square miles of America’s public wildlands, the majority of which are not currently identified for sale.

Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/redrock/takeaction right now and urge your senators not to support S. 2834 until these shortcomings are addressed.

Thank you for speaking out in defense of Utah’s spectacular redrock country.

Chamber hears about reserve
BOB HUDSON
bhudson@thespectrum.com

ST. GEORGE - Back in the early 1990s, federal wildlife officials listed the Mojave Desert tortoise as a threatened species.

"With the stroke of a pen, things changed dramatically for this county," Tom Webster told members of the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

By 1994 wildlife officials had identified 129,000 acres of Washington County as critical habitat for the creature. In 1996 county officials put together a Habitat Conservation Plan, which created the 62,000-acre Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.

Webster, the Reserve's community outreach coordinator, noted that although growth was exponential during that time, most of the projections for the county's population by 2010 fell short. He said the state projected 101,000 while the Five County Association of Governments projected 80,000. Officials of the Washington County Water Conservancy District projected 138,000.
"Our population has already exceeded 140,000," Webster said. He noted that Washington County Commissioner James Eardley recently used a number in excess of 160,000.

The Reserve stretches from Kayenta on the west to Hurricane and Leeds on the east. The HCP is a collaborative effort of the cities of Ivins, Santa Clara, St. George, Washington City, Hurricane, Rockville and Springdale.

In addition to protecting the tortoise, Webster said, "there's a lot of human benefit out of having a reserve here."

Despite the Reserve, the desert tortoise is struggling to survive. Webster said biologists have estimated there are between 2,000 and 2,400 in the 100 square miles of the reserve.

Among the uses of the reserve are camping, hiking, bicycling and horseback riding. Included are 130 miles of trails.

"The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve represents a quality of life," Webster said. He noted that the biggest dangers to the tortoise and other wildlife found in the reserve are fire and man.

Among the ways to help keep the reserve available for all to use, Webster said, are to stay on trails, keep dogs on their leashes, collect litter, enjoy the wildlife at a distance, leave what you find and use caution around the animal burrows.

"With 130 miles of trails, we're hoping you're going to find something to do without wandering off (the designated trails)," Webster said.

Following the presentation insurance professional Doug Labrum said, "I think it's a good deal. We have expanded so fast that having a reserve set aside for something is a good idea."

Information of the reserve is available at www.redcliffsdesertreserve.com

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