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: Utah Studies

Dawn S. Wilson¹, C. Richard Tracy², Ken E. Nussear², Eric T. Simandle², Ron M. Marlow³, Phil A. Medica⁴, and Paul S. Corn^5
1,3Biological Resources Research Center, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557
¹Current Address: Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Chico, CA 95929
²Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, and Biological Resources Research Center, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557
⁴U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, 6770 S. Paradise Rd.,
Las Vegas, NV 89119
⁵Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, Missoula, MT 59807

Management and conservation plans for the desert tortoise often involve the removal of individuals from areas of disturbance. Displaced tortoises are temporarily held in tortoise holding facilities until their fate is determined. Translocation of tortoises is often advocated in areas of rapid development, however, few studies have yet to demonstrate the effectiveness of translocating tortoises. Using radio telemetry, we tracked translocated tortoises at three study sites (Pahcoon, Shivwits, Sandstone) near St. George, Utah. These three sites differ from each other in several habitat characteristics (e.g., elevation, vegetation). The habitat at the Pahcoon and Shivwits sites is not considered "typical" desert tortoise habitat in that it does not contain the characteristic shrub species (e.g., creosote bush, ambrosia) normally associated with desert tortoise populations. Additionally, the Pahcoon site is at a higher elevation (1350 m) than that where desert tortoises are found in Utah. On the other hand, the habitat and elevation at the Sandstone site is composed of the characteristics typical of tortoise habitat. Here, we compare movements of tortoises translocated to these three study sites. We found that tortoises released at the Pahcoon and Shivwits sites moved longer straight-line distances and greater cumulative distances than did tortoises released at the Sandstone site. Many of the tortoises released at the Pahcoon and Shivwits sites moved several kilometers from their initial release sites and are currently located in more characteristic tortoise habitat. Only one of the 18 tortoises released at the Sandstone site moved far enough to have moved off the study site.