After several years of effort in the field and learning the complexities of purchasing large parcels of land in Mexico, the Turtle Conservancy, along with the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation with assistance from Josiah T. Austin and the Desert Tortoise Council, is converting 11,861 acres of prime bolson tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) habitat into a natural preserve.

Strategic Partnerships

The bolson tortoise is not a species managed at the Behler Chelonian Center but the Turtle Conservancy has partnered with the Turner Endangered Species Fund, who is breeding bolson tortoises on the Turner ranch in New Mexico with considerable success. We have shared captive breeding knowledge, set up parallel climate monitoring at the Turner site and on the preserve managed by the Fundación de la Tortuga Grande, and are providing onboard tortoise cams for the study of foraging behavior in both locations. This ex situ work is part of a long-term plan to reintroduce this species in areas of its former range where it is now extinct.
 

Mexico 2010    Mexico 2007

Backed into a corner since the arrival of humans in the New World, this tortoise is a prime candidate for “rewilding” that is, being reintroduced into its former range in Mexico and the United States.

Located in the middle of the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve

The Fundación de la Tortuga Grande will manage this land for the long-term health of the bolson tortoise population, as well as the many other biodiversity values present. The substantial population of tortoises now living on this land will be protected from land degradation due to cattle overgrazing and off-road vehicle use. This will likely result in the largest intact population of this species remaining, anywhere. This parcel of land is adjacent to the Desert Laboratory operated by Mexico's Institute of Ecology (INECOL) and has been the site of many studies of the Chihuahuan Desert.