November 19, 2012 at 10:48am 86 notes
animalsconservationmilitarytortoisesreptilescute
Source: Los Angeles Times
Little-known fact: The Marines are working to protect the Agassiz’s desert tortoise, a species vulnerable to extinction. The base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., includes five acres dedicated to a Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility, where 500 hatchlings are being cared and protected from predators (namely ravens, which feed on juvenile tortoises whose shells are still soft). More than 90% of Marines who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan came to Twentynine Palms for several weeks of grueling training known as Mojave Viper. And every one of them received a video lecture about the tortoise’s threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act. Troops were warned to halt all training and notify the range master the moment a tortoise is spotted. Marines are also ordered to make the base less hospitable to ravens by picking up food litter and making sure trash cans have lids that are “raven-proof.” Anti-raven pamphlets titled “Invasion of the Tortoise Snatchers” are handed out. More tortoise photos for your viewing pleasure here. Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

Little-known fact: The Marines are working to protect the Agassiz’s desert tortoise, a species vulnerable to extinction. The base in Twentynine Palms, Calif., includes five acres dedicated to a Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility, where 500 hatchlings are being cared and protected from predators (namely ravens, which feed on juvenile tortoises whose shells are still soft).

More than 90% of Marines who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan came to Twentynine Palms for several weeks of grueling training known as Mojave Viper. And every one of them received a video lecture about the tortoise’s threatened status under the federal Endangered Species Act. Troops were warned to halt all training and notify the range master the moment a tortoise is spotted.

Marines are also ordered to make the base less hospitable to ravens by picking up food litter and making sure trash cans have lids that are “raven-proof.” Anti-raven pamphlets titled “Invasion of the Tortoise Snatchers” are handed out.

More tortoise photos for your viewing pleasure here.

Photo: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

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