How We're Protecting Gopher Tortoises

Gopher Tortoise

Gopher Tortoise Up Close in Natural Habitat | Alex W

Gopher tortoises do so much for our ecosystems, which is why we’re starting our biggest gopher tortoise habitat enhancement project yet! 🐢 💪 Gopher tortoises need open-canopy, sandy habitats with low grasses and vegetation. In Florida, these habitats are in decline, so we’re making a few of our own! Join us as we clear overgrown vegetation, plant native species, and restore habitat for gopher tortoises on our preserve lands this fall and winter by signing up to volunteer with us: https://sccf.

Did you know Gopher Tortoises can live to be 75 years old?! They are environmental engineers who create important habitat for other wildlife! Huge thanks and shoutout to SCCF for their continued partnership! You may have seen these shell markings before on Florida Box Turtles admitted to the clinic who are a part of SCCF’s Florida Box Turtle Monitoring Project! Though Gopher Tortoises are no longer marked in this way, it’s pretty neat we are able to estimate an approximate age for this Sanibel r