SREL Reprint #3633

Comparing post-release cover and burrow use by differentially head-started Mojave desert tortoises in southern California

Pearson A. McGovern1,2, J. Mark Peaden3, Kurt A. Buhlmann1, Brian D. Todd4, and Tracey D. Tuberville1

1Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA
2Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia,
180 E. Green Street, Athens, GA 30602, USA
3Department of Biology, Rogers State University, 1701 W. Will Rogers Boulevard, Claremore, OK 74017, USA
4Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis,
One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Summary: The effects of indoor rearing versus the conventional method of solely outdoor head-starting on post-release cover and burrow use of juvenile Mojave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii), a threatened endemic species, were investigated. We found that partially indoor-reared tortoises exhibited similar post-release behaviours when compared to both same-aged, but smaller, and similar-sized, but older outdoor-reared head-started tortoises, thus increasing the success and decreasing the costs of head-starting.

SREL Reprint #3633

McGovern, P. A., J. M. Peaden, K. A. Buhlmann, B. D. Todd, and T. D. Tuberville. 2021. Comparing post-release cover and burrow use by differentially head-started Mojave desert tortoises in southern California. Conservation Evidence Journal 18(2021): 37-43.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).