Gopher tortoises win reprieve from live burials (Turtles All The Way Down)

Gopher tortoises win reprieve from live burials

"Developers will no longer be allowed to bury gopher tortoises alive during construction under a moratorium approved Wednesday by state wildlife commissioners.

Under current gopher tortoise rules, developers are allowed to seek permits to bury them alive rather than relocate them during construction projects. About 70,000 gopher tortoises have been buried in the past 14 years under the state permitting system.

The tortoises, which can live for weeks before suffocating after entombment, burrow in sandy, dry areas such as dunes and have survived for 60 million years. Biologists estimate their numbers have dropped by up to 80 percent in the last century due to coastal development."

More:
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070613/APN/706131929
http://www.bradenton.com/186/story/72916.html
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=3483919&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 (Disregard the photo of the poor sulcata that was hit by a car -- his plight is not related to that of the gopher tortoise.)

Posted by turtledown on June 14, 2007 8:46 AM | Permalink

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Like the header says, this blog is devoted to all things chelonian. I hope you will visit often, post comments, and e-mail me if you have any interesting turtle information. In the meantime please read up on tortoise happenings by scrolling down ... all the way down.

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