Desert Tortoise Relocation Plan Failing

A $8.7 million plan by the U.S. Army to relocate endangered California desert tortoises from Ft. Irwin has failed to adequately protect them, according to an environmental group.

The Center for Biodiversity in Tucson is suing the Army, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management for allegedly violating the federal Endangered Species Act in the relocation effort.

Coyotes have killed an estimated 14 relocated tortoises, which are monitored and tracked by radio transmitters. Drought is believed to have reduced the number of rabbits that coyotes normally prey on, driving them increasingly to attack tortoises whose shells cannot completely protect them. Additionally, an infectious disease spread at a relocation training center is being blamed for the deaths of 15 baby tortoises.

The relocation was in response to the expansion of Ft. Irwin, which included the development of prime desert tortoise habitat. To protect the endangered species, the Army captured and airlifted about 760 tortoises from Ft. Irwin to public lands in the Mojave Desert near Barstow, California.

Environmental groups had warned the Army that relocating the tortoise exposed them to a number of threats, including drought-stricken foraging grounds, respitory disease, and attacks by coyotes, dogs, and ravens. For its part, the Army believed that leaving the tortoises at Fort Irwin exposed them to worse vehicular dangers, and has plans to trap and kill what it calls “a rogue band of coyotes.”

The Army has plans to relocate an additional 1200 tortoises.