Why is the gopher tortoise endangered?

Answer 1

There are several dangers that threaten the survival of the gopher tortoise species. The main reasons for its decline are habitat destruction because of urbanization, mining for phosphate, limestone and sand, and careless use of herbicides and pesticides. Other dangers include:

Forestry practices

Many forestry services replace the trees they have cut down with closely spaced slash, loblolly or sand pine. The branches and leaves of these trees are very thick and reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ground, thereby limiting the growth of grasses that tortoises eat for food. This also makes it hard for female tortoises to find a spot sunny enough to lay her eggs.

Tortoises as food

During the Great Depression, many people ate tortoises when they couldn't afford any other kind of meat. Some people still consider gopher tortoises a delicacy, and mistakenly believe that eating tortoise flesh can help with some medical problems. Illegal hunting of tortoises for food has wiped out entire colonies in some places.

Roads

Many tortoises are killed each year by motor vehicles. In addition, building new roads sometimes isolates colonies of tortoises, making it hard for them to find food or places to nest.

From: http:/www.srel.edu/outreach/factsheet/gophertortoise.html

There are many factors in our world that threaten the gopher tortoise's existence. Several years ago, one of the biggest problems was that people enjoyed having tortoises as pets. They would take them from the wild and keep them at home. Even though these animals were usually treated well, they could not reproduce and add new tortoises to the population. Tortoise racing was also popular years ago, but the animals were rarely returned to their original home ranges after the races were over. Since becoming protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, keeping tortoises as pets, racing them, or removing them from their home ranges is illegal. Today, the greatest threat to the survival of the gopher tortoise is habitat destruction. Tortoises can not live if they do not have undeveloped land with plenty of food and room to dig their burrows. Another less obvious threat that is related to development is land fragmentation. Buildings, roads, borrow pits, landfills, parking lots, and all other kinds of facilities break the natural habitat into pieces, resulting in fewer large parcels of land. It is difficult for a tortoise to go about its business without coming into contact with humans, or worse yet, their automobiles. Road mortality is believed to be one of the greatest causes of adult tortoise deaths.

From: http:/www.nbbd.com/godo/ef/gtortoise

*i got these for d.i. and im not fully sure these are the MAIN reasons, but these seem logical.*

Answer 2

The gopher tortoise is threatened due to habitat loss from urbanization and agriculture, fragmentation of their habitats, and increased human activities such as road construction and development. They also face threats from predation, disease, and climate change impacts. Conservation efforts are in place to help protect and restore their populations.

Answer 3

It says in this website: http://www.earthsendangered.com/profile.asp?view=c&ID=1&sp=479 that the Geometric tortoise is endangered by loss of their habitat.