(KUTV) Utah wildlife officials
are looking for adoptive homes for approximately 40 desert tortoises that can't
be returned to their native habitat.
"They make
very good pets," said Lynn Chamberlain, southern Utah outreach manager for the Utah Division
of Wildlife Resources.
The Mojave Desert
Tortoise is listed as a threatened species, making it illegal to capture or
even touch them in the wild. If the DWR receives a tortoise that was removed
from the wild by humans it is sent to live at a facility in Washington County .
Once in captivity,
the tortoises cannot be returned to the wild, Chamberlain says, because they
could possibly introduce diseases contracted while in captivity into the wild
populations.
"It's better
for somebody to adopt them than to let them die in a facility," said
Cornell Christensen with the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, an organization aimed
at recovering the desert tortoise population. "Let somebody enjoy them for
a few years."
Christensen says
the reptiles are easy to care for and make for a great family pet.
"Their
demeanor is very, very calm and collect," he said. "They're not
aggressive at all."
While they may be
a low-maintenance companion, the desert tortoise requires commitment because
they can live upwards of 90 years in captivity.
"This is not
like buying a gold fish," Chamberlain said. "If you get one of these
tortoises for one of your grandchildren, that tortoise may be alive when that
grandchild is a grandparent."
Those living in
Iron, Kane and Washington
Counties are ineligible
to adopt the tortoises because of the risk that the tortoises could escape and
reunite with the native tortoise populations.
For more
information about adopting a desert tortoise, you can get answers to common
questions by reading the DWR's adoption booklet: http://wildlife.utah.gov/pdf/dt_adopt.pdf
or by contacting the DWR at 801-538-4746 or by email to tortoise@utah.gov.
By Ladd Egan
(Copyright 2014
Sinclair Broadcasting Group)
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!