Common Name: Desert Tortoise
Scientific Name: Gopherus agassizii

Kingdom: Animal
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Chelonia
Family: Testudinidae
Genus: Gopherus
Species: Agassizii

Mojave and Sonoran deserts of southeastern California, southern Nevada, south through Arizona into Mexico.

Desert tortoises inhabit semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert washes, canyon bottoms and rocky hillsides. The presence of soil suitable for digging burrows is a limiting factor to Dessert tortoise distribution. A single tortoise may have a dozen or more burrows distributed over its home range. Different tortoises may use these burrows at different times.

The Desert Tortoise is a species of Gopher Tortoise with a 9-15inch brown carapace and weighing between 8 and 15 pounds. The tortoise’s hind limbs are elephant-like, and the forelimbs are flattened with well-developed muscle. They are used for digging burrows. The females use their hind limbs to dig their nests.

Desert tortoises make hisses, pops and poink sounds, perhaps as fear and distress calls. Males also grunt when mating. Both sexes have a gular horn--an anterior extension of the plastron. The horn is longer and usually upturned in males. Males use these in fighting with other males, attempting to insert the horn under the anterior edge of the opponent’s carapace and flip it over on its back. Fighting may occur when males encounter one another and usually ends with the subordinate male retreating.

Diet consumption varies throughout the tortoise’s range. Herbs, grasses, some shrubs and the new growth of cacti and their flowers comprise a major portion of the diet. Much of the tortoises’ water intake comes from moisture in the grasses and wildflowers they consume in the spring. During very dry times they may give off waste as a white paste rather than a watery urine.

Sexual maturity is a function of size rather than age, females must be approximately 7-8 inches wide in the mid-carapace. Courting and copulation may occur at any time the tortoises are above ground. There seems to be more of this behavior in late summer and early fall when the testosterone levels peak in males. Females store sperm and egg laying occurs in May, June and July. A mature female might lay 4-8 white hard-shelled eggs in a clutch and produce 2-3 clutches in a season. After laying, the female leaves the nest and the soil temperatures support growth of the embryos.

No specific information located.

It is unlawful to touch, harm, harass or collect a wild Desert Tortoise. There are programs run by tortoises clubs in Arizona, California and Nevada through which legally acquired captives may be adopted.

In recent years, Desert Tortoises of the Mojave Desert have been federally listed as a threatened species. State and federal wildlife and land management agencies as well as local jurisdictions are actively involved in conservation programs to help the recovery of the Desert Tortoise throughout the Mojave Desert.

Primary threats to the Desert Tortoise include:
• Illegal collection and vandalism by humans
• Urban expansion that has destroyed habitat
• Upper respiratory tract disease
• Loss of forage plants due to competition with grazing livestock and other invasive species

95% of a Desert Tortoise’s life is spent in underground burrows. The Adult tortoises may survive a year or more without access to water. Desert Tortoises can live 80-100 years.

The Buffalo Zoo

As the third oldest zoo in the United States, the Buffalo Zoo houses some of the world's most exotic and endangered wildlife. In collaboration with the Center for Applied Technologies in Education, the Buffalo Zoo has provided these animal profiles to offer a glimpse into the diversity of the Zoo’s collection.