The Center for Biological Diversity and Nokuse Education filed a notice of intent to sue the US Fish and Wildlife Service for not listing the gopher tortoise as endangered or threatened in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The center noted there are some state-level protections for the burrowing tortoises, but those generally require the animals to be moved from a development site and do not protect their habitat overall. The tortoises have lost 97% of the longleaf pine savannas where they lived for millions of years in the South.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has projected that 75% of the current gopher tortoise population will be lost by 2100. The burrows they dig with shovel-like front legs, which can extend 30 feet (9 meters) underground, also support an estimated 360 other species that use them.
Gopher tortoises once inhabited more than 92 million acres of land in the southeastern US but now have only a fraction of that space due to human development, agriculture, climate change, invasive species, and other issues, according to the center’s lawsuit notice.
According to the Gopher Tortoise Council website:
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 12-month finding for listing the gopher tortoise as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has stimulated additional interest in the conservation of the species. A Candidate Conservation Agreement and a comprehensive strategy have been developed for the gopher tortoise. It will be necessary to define a minimum viable population size, the number of viable populations needed, and the ideal geographic distribution of these populations in order to conserve this species successfully.
The scientific literature provides mixed guidance about what constitutes a minimum viable gopher tortoise population. Results from existing population viability models vary from 25 to 250 individuals under ideal habitat conditions. In addition, there is no consistency in the scientific literature regarding how large a parcel of habitat must be to support a viable population. Therefore, there was a clear need to convene experts in gopher tortoise biology, ecology, management, and demographic modeling to reach a consensus regarding the following objectives:
- Define a minimum viable gopher tortoise population size based on the best scientific information available.
- Identify the minimum reserve size needed to support a viable gopher tortoise population.
- Identify the number and distribution of viable gopher tortoise populations necessary to ensure the long-term viability of the species."
"Everything affecting the gopher tortoise’s habitat affects the tortoise and … eventually affects all other organisms in its ecosystem," said Dr. George W. Folkerts of the University of Auburn University. "To save the gopher tortoise is really a manifestation of our desire to preserve intact, significant pieces of the biosphere... We must preserve…the gopher tortoise and other species in similar predicaments, for if we do not, we lose a part of our humanity, a part of our habitat, and ultimately our world.”
