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Army Seeks New Home for Desert Tortoises

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 6, 2009 3:00 AM CDT
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(Newser) – The Army plans to evict more than 1,000 endangered desert tortoises to expand a tank training ground in the Mojave Desert, the Los Angeles Times reports. Conservationists warn that the last effort to shift the tortoises proved disastrous: Many were wiped out by predators, and others traveled up to 8 miles to return to their old territory.

"Nothing's ever been done on this scale before," one biologist says."Every time the animals recognize that they don’t know where they are, they have some built-in mechanism that tells them to head for home and they make a break for home." The military, which argues that the high death rate in the earlier effort was due to drought rather than relocation, will start moving the tortoises next month if it wins Bureau of Land Management approval.

An endangered desert tortoise sits in the middle of a road in the proposed location of three solar-energy generation complexes in the eastern Mojave Desert.
An endangered desert tortoise sits in the middle of a road in the proposed location of three solar-energy generation complexes in the eastern Mojave Desert.   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, FILE)
Marines wait for a desert tortoise, endangered and protected from harm or harassment by federal law, to move off the road .
Marines wait for a desert tortoise, endangered and protected from harm or harassment by federal law, to move off the road .   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
The military plans to move the Mojave Desert's flagship species, the desert tortoise, to make room for tank training at the Fort Irwin military base.
The military plans to move the Mojave Desert's flagship species, the desert tortoise, to make room for tank training at the Fort Irwin military base.   (AP Photo/Arizona Game and Fish Department, George Andrejko, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 5 comments
schmidtkoff
Aug 6, 2009 12:35 PM CDT
can't the army expand elsewhere? why do we always have to tamper with habitat and the species that inhabit? this is just wrong.
cognitivefilter
Aug 6, 2009 10:52 AM CDT
to think that the tortoises won't return.... STOP DISPLACING ANIMALS FOR THE 'sake' OF THE MILITARY! this is ridiculous and awful
So_Cal_Larry
Aug 6, 2009 7:13 AM CDT
The literal stupidity of the U.S. Military in these matters just boggles the mind. These turtles have been doing this trek for millions upon millions of years. These matters are built into the DNA of these turtles. And, now, once again, the Army thinks a simple move will change things for these turtles, and they will adjust to the changes that the Army believes appropriate. Get real, Army.
US • Green

 
endangered species • California • Fort Irwin • US military • wildlife • US Army • Mojave Desert • Bureau of Land Management • tortoise

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