25th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the
Desert Tortoise Council, April 21-24, 2000
Abstracts

Translocation as a Tool for Conservation of the Desert Tortoise: Nevada Studies

Ken E. Nussear¹, C. Richard Tracy¹, Phil A. Medica², Ron M. Marlow³, M. B. Saethre^1,2, and Paul S. Corn^4
1Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, and Biological Resources Research Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
²U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, 6770 S. Paradise Rd.,
Las Vegas, NV 89119
³Biological Resources Research Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
⁴Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Missoula, MT 59807

Large numbers of tortoises are being displaced due to the expansion of metropolitan areas in the Mojave Desert. Translocation is the only outlet for large numbers of displaced tortoises that is biologically and socioeconomically acceptable in Nevada. In 1997, we translocated long-term captive tortoises to a site southwest of Las Vegas, NV. In 1998, we translocated animals to a low-elevation site near Overton, NV to evaluate the effectiveness of translocation to more inimical habitat (hotter, fewer shade resources, less food). At each site, we monitored resident as well as translocated animals. We measured survivorship, reproduction, movements, distances, home ranges, social interactions and burrow selection in both translocated and resident animals. Survivorship for all years of our study has been the same for translocated and resident animals within and among sites. Above average rainfall, and forage were available in 1998, and we observed greater survivorship for both groups compared to 1997. Translocated animals had more variable movement initially than did resident tortoises, but they had similar patterns of movement and habitat use after their first winter of hibernation. No difference in reproduction was measured between translocated and resident animals, however the more inimical site had roughly half the number of eggs per female tortoise. Our data suggest that translocation can effectively be used as a conservation tool for the desert tortoise.