by Julie Hauserman
In a protected north Florida forest, 1,700 gopher tortoises are getting a second chance at life.
The threatened creatures—some more than 60 years old—could have been crushed by bulldozers and buried alive under shopping malls and roads across Florida. Instead, they were saved through a unique partnership of private philanthropists, developers, scientists, state officials, volunteers, and non-profit groups, including The Humane Society of the United States.
|
|
|
Jennifer Hobgood helps a tortoise begin his trip to a safe home. |
To the Rescue, Fast
Jen Hobgood, Florida state director for The Humane Society of the United States, is working with other animal advocates in a race against bulldozers to save more gopher tortoises.
“Thousands of tortoises may be living on sites right now where developers have an existing permit to destroy them,” Hobgood said. “But we can work with developers, right before construction begins, to humanely relocate these animals so they don’t have to suffer that kind of death.”
In fact, that’s exactly what happened just last week when Hobgood found out at the last minute that dozens of tortoises were in immediate danger as bulldozers were onsite and prepared to start clearing land in Hudson, Fla.
“I literally had to talk fast to get the developer to let us come in and get the tortoises before they started construction,” Hobgood said. “What we thought would be 40 tortoises turned out to be 114. We’re very glad the Richman Group acted to save the lives of the tortoises living on this site, and we hope other developers will follow their lead.”
Making Way for Shopping Malls
 |
|
| Gopher tortoises are being destroyed to make way for new construction. © Carissa Kent |
|
For many years, Florida’s wildlife agency quietly sold developers “pay-and-bury” permits that allowed them to entomb an estimated 104,000 gopher tortoises since 1991.
Tortoises have slow metabolism, and it can take them weeks or months to die of starvation, dehydration, or suffocation as they try in vain to dig themselves out.
When the state’s policy came to light, “Floridians were horrified that we were allowing any animal—let alone a threatened species—to be buried alive,” Hobgood said.
Progress Made, But Loopholes Remain
In 2007, the state changed course. Developers are now required to relocate tortoises before construction.
But there’s a loophole: hundreds of "grandfathered" pay-and-bury permits are now in developers’ hands across Florida. Hobgood and others persuaded the state to allow permitted volunteers to relocate tortoises from sites as long as the developers would allow it and an approved relocation site could be identified.
They also are approaching developers who have permits, offering the resources of The HSUS to move gopher tortoises at no cost to the developer. This work is made possible by a grant from The Folke H. Peterson Foundation and The HSUS’ tortoise rescue fund.
Rescue and Release
 |
|
| Hobgood rescues a gopher tortoise from entombment in his deep burrow.© Kathy Milani/The HSUS |
|
This summer, Hobgood helped deliver the latest batch of 102 rescued gopher tortoises to the private 48,000-acre Nokuse Plantation, a non-profit conservation area in Walton County that has generously offered its land to relocated gopher tortoises.
The 102 tortoise refugees were rescued in July from a planned subdivision in Zellwood, about 30 miles outside Orlando.
“The thing about gopher tortoise rescue is that it's full of mixed emotions,” Hobgood said.
“Relocation is stressful for tortoises under the best of circumstances, when they're handled with utmost care and compassion. Though I'm always relieved that we're able to give them a second chance, it's sad that they must leave their homes.
I can't explain to them why they're being displaced or that we're doing what is best for them under the circumstances.”
Helping Out
Hobgood remembers the first tortoise she ever rescued, on a construction site in Vero Beach in 2006:
“As we drove the perimeter of the site, we saw a dusty female gopher tortoise pacing the silt fencing trying to find her way to safety,” she said. “We jumped out of the truck and picked her up—she was luckier than several of the tortoises with cracked shells we'd later find in the construction zone.
She seemed confused and frightened, but unharmed. Her size and the wear on her shell indicated that she was probably older than me—35 to 50 years old or more.”
Compassion Over Cruelty
Because tortoises have such long life spans and are slow to reproduce, Florida’s ghastly pay-and-bury policy has had devastating consequences. Biologists estimate that the species has lost 60 to 80 percent of its Florida population in the past 100 years. Saving the remaining tortoises is more critical than ever, Hobgood said.
Fortunately, some developers agree. In Jacksonville, HCM Construction president Andrew Howe footed the bill for a backhoe operator to search for 11 gopher tortoises relocated to Nokuse.
In Seminole County, also in Central Florida, more than 100 volunteers spent six weeks rescuing 300 gopher tortoises off a development site. The developer, Frank Engel, grabbed a shovel and helped rescue the tortoises.
“When you rescue a tortoise, you're hot and sweaty from digging, so when you finally reach the tortoise and you know you’ve saved him, it’s incredibly exhilarating,” says Carissa Kent, a Florida volunteer who has taken up the gopher tortoise’s cause and spearheaded many of the rescues.
“You know the agony, trauma, and suffering they will go through dying so slowly," she said. "To know you spared them from that is priceless.”
Earlier this summer, Texas-based D.R. Horton Homebuilders had a pay-and-bury permit in hand, but chose compassion instead.
The HSUS offered the resources to remove the tortoises from the developer’s Zellwood construction site to safety. With assistance from donations and The Folke H. Peterson Foundation, The HSUS helped fund the project and transport 102 tortoises to Nokuse.
Unearthing a Complex Maze
 |
|
| This gopher tortoise will soon be on his way to his new home safe from bulldozers.© Carissa Kent |
|
Gopher tortoises burrow deep down to the water table, and excavation can be tricky.
“Because gopher tortoises burrow down to the water table, we put a piece of flexible pipe down the burrow while a backhoe very carefully scrapes earth,” Hobgood said.
“We are looking for the end chamber, which can be 15 to 18 feet deep.
“When we get close, we hand dig the rest of the way to avoid hurting the tortoise, the hatchlings, or any other animals sharing the burrow.”
Rescuers lift the tortoises out of their homes and put them in bins that have been filled with sand from their burrows.
Some need to be hydrated and are put in a dark, cool area transported to their new home.
Getting to Know the Tortoises
At Nokuse, information is collected about the tortoises and their health evaluated. The tortoises are enclosed in large areas with silt fences for a year while they acclimate to their new territory. The relocated tortoises are breeding, said conservation director, Matthew J. Aresco.
“They’re doing great,” Aresco said.
Hobgood said the outpouring of support for such a shy and elusive reptile species is inspiring.
“So many wonderful people have come forward to help Florida’s tortoises,” she said. “We found that when policymakers allow egregious harm to animals, the public will stand up and call for change—giving their time, energy, and resources to help restore humane animal treatment.”
