Saving the declining populations of Mojave desert tortoise is a big challenge. But scientists think that raising newborn “hatchling” tortoises in a controlled environment in the Mojave National Preserve for a year, then releasing the juvenile tortoises into the wild, may help save this threatened species.

The protected tortoises — which live up to 80 years and can go without water for a year — have existed for eons, but are now being decimated by habitat loss and predation. Professor Brian Todd, in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC Davis, worries that the increasing use of Southern California deserts for solar and wind energy, will add to the loss of tortoise habitats, and add further pressure to regional wildlife habitats. While developing renewable energy to combat climate change is a good thing, in this case it impacts desert species and their habitats.

Stepping up to the plate to save the Mojave desert tortoises is a triad of academics, government agencies, and corporations, who recently created the Ivanpah Desert Tortoise Research Facility. The new facility, located in the Mojave National Preserve, was designed for scientists to conduct research on juvenile tortoise survival. It was constructed largely by Chevron and Molycorp, and is managed by the National Park Service. Scientists from the University of California, University of Georgia, and elsewhere, are conducting a 15-year study to see if hatchlings released into the wild and/or relocated elsewhere can survive and reverse the population decline.

We can all keep our fingers crossed that this research will preserve desert tortoise populations, and serve as a model for conserving biodiversity.

Additional information:

• “Protecting the desert tortoise,” video of UC Davis researchers and desert tortoises.
• “Habitat selection, space use, and factors affecting recruitment of desert tortoises in the Mojave National Preserve”; Brian Todd website, UC Davis
• “Baby desert tortoises get a headstart in the Mojave,” by Andy Fell and Kat Kerlin, Egghead blog, UC Davis. With a video of tortoises and scientists.
  

  A hatchling Mojave desert tortoise.
• “Tortoise territory,” by Robin DeRieux, CA&ES Outlook magazine (see pages 2 and 10), UC Davis, spring/summer 2012.
• “Mojave National Preserve celebrates dedication of Ivanpah desert tortoise,” Mojave National Preserve website.