Marines Clash With Desert Tortoises
In Twentynine Palms, CA, in the middle of the Mojave Desert, marines from the U.S. Marine Corps undergo advanced combat training, while threatened Gopherus agassizzii meander along the sidelines; in fact, Desert Tortoises are native to the area and the U.S. Marine Corps runs an on-base hatchery to assist in conserving the species. However, tensions have risen over the the Marine Corps’s plan to schedule a live-fire exercise which would include an air-lift in August. The Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson has protested upon the fact that they believe the exercise will prove fatal to the tortoise population. As a result, the Marine Corps has decided to cancel the airlift for the time being and make the exercise a smaller endeavor as to reduce any harmful effects on the species. They also plan to further study the effects of translocation on the tortoise population since Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist with the diversity center, reports that it will be fatal. The Marine Corps has set aside 50 million dollars for the airlift and also for further measures to be taken to study and protect the tortoises. The debate still continues as some say the translocation process is what is diminishing their numbers, while other say it is the lack of sufficient food and water; however, the importance of training the marines needs still to be considered. Conservationists as well as scientists are still trying to determine a suitable compromise.
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Miscellany
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Did You Know…
Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizzii) – in the wild it feeds on a variety of seasonal succulent plants, flowers, grasses and cacti. Like all arid-habitat tortoises it is a strict herbivore.
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Photo from Cameron Rognan.
