How We're Protecting Gopher Tortoises

Did your Tuesday need some baby gopher tortoises eating berries? Well, here you go. These baby gopher tortoises are part of a special headstart program designed to help boost wild populations. Gopher tortoises are most vulnerable as hatchlings. So Warm Springs National Fish Hatchery gives them a cozy little house for a couple years. When they are bigger and less likely to become a snack for a hungry predator, they will be released into protected habitat. In the mean time, hatchlings enjoy baskin

Gopher tortoises do so much for our ecosystems, which is why we’re starting our biggest gopher tortoise habitat enhancement project yet! 🐢 💪 Gopher tortoises need open-canopy, sandy habitats with low grasses and vegetation. In Florida, these habitats are in decline, so we’re making a few of our own! Join us as we clear overgrown vegetation, plant native species, and restore habitat for gopher tortoises on our preserve lands this fall and winter by signing up to volunteer with us: https://sccf.

Gopher Tortoise Up Close in Natural Habitat | Alex W

Little Gopher Tortoise, Big Appetite 🥬🐢 This hungry juvenile is munching its way through vegetation and fueling up for a long life in the Florida wild. Gopher Tortoises can live up to 60 years in the wild and dig multiple burrows throughout their lifetime, creating shelter for hundreds of species in the process. A connected and protected Florida Wildlife Corridor ensures these tortoises have the space, food, and habitat available to live out their long lives as a keystone species. | Florida Wi