The Law and the Tortoise
Wild Tortoises
The Protected Tortoise
Wild and captive tortoises are protected in different ways by various local, state, and federal laws. Wild desert tortoises in the Mojave Desert, including Nevada, are on the federal list of Threatened and Endangered Species. Tortoises in Nevada are also protected under state law. Without a special permit, no one is allowed to touch, disturb, collect, or harm a wild tortoise or disturb a tortoise burrow. Tortoise remains are not to be collected. Tortoises, wild or domesticated, dead or alive, along with their eggs are not to be bought, sold, or taken across state lines without a state or federal permit.
A special permit has been granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to Clark County, Nevada. Persons who file properly to develop private land may remove tortoises from those lands, but removal before development is now voluntary on the part of the developer. However, no tortoise is to be intentionally killed during development. They are to be collected and turned over to the Tortoise Pick-Up Service, (702) 593-9027, not taken for personal use. If you want a tortoise for a pet, click on Adoption at the bottom of the page.
Why Wild Tortoises Should Not Be Removed from the Desert
It is against the law to collect a wild tortoise without a permit. Tortoises often cross roads through undeveloped desert. They know where they are going; they are not lost. There is no need to “rescue” them unless they are in danger from heavy or fast traffic. If it is safe for you to stop, approach the tortoise from the front, pick it up, hold it level and move it several yards beyond the side of the road or inside any fencing in the direction the tortoise was heading.
Wild tortoises tend to urinate when picked up because they are frightened. The tortoise has stored this water to use over many months. When you cause this water to be lost, the tortoise may die of dehydration before the next rain. So, think twice about moving a tortoise unless it is in immediate danger from vehicles.
If you recently removed a tortoise from undeveloped desert or a road through undeveloped desert, in Clark County Nevada, the first step is to call the Tortoise Pick-Up Service immediately, 702 953-9027. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be in charge of the eventual return of this tortoise to the desert. In other Nevada Counties or other states, contact the local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the state Department of Fish and Game. You are not to release the tortoise or keep it for personal use. It’s the law.
Keep the tortoise indoors until picked up. Put it in a box with sides the tortoise cannot see through and tall enough that the tortoise cannot climb out but can turn around. Place in a quite, cool, spot away from dogs and not outside. Use newspapers not towels in the bottom, as the tortoise’s nails could get tangled. Check occasionally that the tortoise has not turned itself over. If the tortoise becomes restless let it walk around the bathroom and keep the door closed. The Tortoise Pick-Up Service usually arrives within a few hours.
Pet Tortoises
Tortoises Wandering in Developed Areas
If a tortoise has wandered into your yard or is wandering in your neighborhood or other developed area of Clark County, it may be an escaped pet or a wild tortoise that wandered off a development site. Do not release it in the desert. Do not keep it for yourself or give it away. Take it home; do not leave it in a vehicle. Take it inside. Follow the instructions above for a wild tortoise picked up from the desert. Immediately call the Tortoise Pick-Up Service at (702) 593-9027. The tortoise must be turned over to the Tortoise Pick-Up Service. Not only may the owner be looking for it and call the Pick-Up Service, it’s the law.
The tortoise must be kept inside until picked up. If you put the tortoise in your yard it may quickly escape, become overheated and die, become injured by dogs or entangled in stored items. Making your yard safe for a tortoise takes time, and before that is done the tortoise may be in trouble. If the owner does not claim it and it passes the health test, you may be able to adopt it after your yard has been prepared. Tortoise Group is authorized to guide you in preparing for and adopting these tortoises.
Legally Obtaining a Tortoise
In Nevada, in addition to adopting from Tortoise Group, you may accept a tortoise from another Nevada resident if it was hatched in captivity in Nevada or is assumed to have been in captivity since before August 1989 in Nevada. These tortoises do not have to be registered in any way.
Unwanted Tortoises
Tortoises adopted from Tortoise Group. Tortoises adopted from Tortoise Group are registered and tracked. Do not give your tortoise to another person. If you can no longer keep your tortoise, you must return it to us. If you move within Nevada, you may take your tortoise with you. However, you must notify us of your new address immediately.
Tortoises not adopted from Tortoise Group. If you did not adopt your tortoise from Tortoise Group and you cannot find a good home for it, the Tortoise Pick-Up Service will take care of the tortoise until it can be placed in an authorized program such as adoption through Tortoise Group or released in the wild. Call the Pick-Up Service at (702) 593-9027.
Hatchlings and large groups of juveniles from the same household. See Giving Away Hatchlings, Page 24 of the Tortoise Adoption and Care Pamphlet.
Moving Tortoises
No desert tortoise may be taken across state lines without a special permit from the Nevada Department of Wildlife (702-486-5127) or the corresponding agency in the state collected. You may also have to secure permission in the state where the tortoise is going. For their own sakes, tortoises should not leave the desert.
Why Pet Tortoises Should Not Be Released in the Desert
It’s illegal. In addition to unauthorized releases being illegal, disease and parasites not obvious to owners may spread to wild tortoises. For example, Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD) is common and often fatal in pet tortoises.
Poor and decreasing habitat. One reason that the wild desert tortoise is listed as a threatened species is that natural habitat decreases each year in amount and quality because of human impacts such as development, mining, livestock grazing, and off-road vehicle usage. Because the desert recovers very slowly, even from small disturbances, degradation accumulates and the habitat supports progressively fewer animals.
A major part of the wild tortoise diet is annual plants that germinate in winter if there is enough winter rain. To release additional tortoises into degraded areas, especially in years with little rain, increases competition for the limited food supply. As a result, when pet tortoises are released among wild tortoises, both wild and pet tortoises may suffer.
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