Desert National Wildlife Refuge
Beyond the Boundaries
Desert Tortoise Gopherus agassizii
LIFE HISTORY: The rare and elusive desert tortoise can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts of the southwestern United States and at Desert NWR. Living in this dry climate, tortoises are well-adapted for making the most of water in short supply. They get most of their water from a diet of wildflowers, grasses and cacti and can live up to 50 years in the wild, spending 95% percent of their time underground in burrows. Tortoise habitat includes sandy flats to rocky foothills, alluvial fans, washes and canyons.
THREATS: Desert Tortoises are listed as threatened on the endangered species list, and face many threats that include drought, disease, predation, mining, grazing and off-road vehicles. In Nevada, tortoise habitat is threatened by energy projects in the Mojave desert, as well as development in and around Las Vegas. Tortoises are particularly susceptible to diseases, such as Mycoplasmosis, a respiratory disease, that are exacerbated by stressors such as degraded habitat.
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At more than 1.6 million acres, Desert National Wildlife Refuge Complex is the largest refuge in the lower 48 states and sits amid a 7.2 million-acre landscape of magnificent public lands – from Death Valley to the Grand Canyon. Spanning from high mountain peaks to desert floor and isolated springs, Desert NWRC provides critical habitat to wide ranging species such as desert bighorn sheep and desert tortoise, as well as endemic and endangered species such as the Ash Meadows and Amargosa pupfish and the Moapa dace. It also borders another type of wild life refuge: the city of Las Vegas, which presents tremendous challenges but also opportunities to build public support for wildlife conservation.
Click here for a video about NWRA's Southern Nevada Beyond the Boundaries Program
NWRA is working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to:
- Create a strategic habitat conservation plan for Desert NWRC
- Communicate the goals of that plan through the Refuge visitor programs, community outreach and education efforts
- Create an innovative multi-agency public outreach strategy for Southern Nevada’s conservation lands (eg refuges, parks, forests)
- Acquire and conserve key private lands inholdings within the refuges, and
- Establish new protected areas for desert tortoise, which will be heavily impacted by renewable energy development in Nevada and California.
More information:
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