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Conservation Messaging Opportunities
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Physical features
Physical features
Gopher tortoises are usually uniformly gray or brown. Hatchlings are lighter in color with light tan or yellow centers on the carapacial scutes.
The front limbs are very flat and act as shovels so the tortoise can make it’s burrow which can be over 30 feet long and be up to 10 feet below the ground.
Like all turtles and tortoises, gopher tortoises have no teeth. Instead they have a sharp beak that is mildly serrated on the edge for shearing plant material.
Range and Habitat
Range and Habitat
Range – Southeastern USA
Habitat – Sandhills, Longleaf pine/wiregrass, Coastal scrub
Diet: Herbivore
Diet: Herbivore
Wild – grasses and other vegetation
Zoo – Leafy greens, grasses, and vegetables
Lifespan
Lifespan
Wild – 40-70 years
Zoo – 60-80 years
Reproduction
Reproduction
Gopher tortoises breed and lay eggs in Spring and Summer.
Eggs are often buried in the "apron" - the clear area around the entrance to a female tortoise's burrow.
Incubation takes 90-100 days.
Conservation: Vulnerable
Conservation: Vulnerable
Protection of gopher tortoises is essential to their entire ecosystem. They are known as a keystone species, which means other animals depend on them for survival. The extensive burrows that they make are used by over 300 different species of animals. Some kids of plant seeds only germinate after passing through the tortoise's digestive system.
Habitat loss by conversion of land for agriculture is a major threat.
Many are hit by vehicles while crossing roads.
This species has been impacted by gassing of their burrows to collect rattlesnakes for Rattlesnake Round-ups. While the snakes usually flee the gas fumes, the tortoise usually dies from inhalation inside the burrow.
Interpretive Information
Interpretive Information
The gopher tortoise is Georgia’s state reptile.
This species is territorial and very rarely is a burrow occupied by more than one tortoise at a time.
Gopher tortoises are important seed dispersers and ecosystem architects - they provide homes to over 300 species in their burrows.
References
References
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. (n.d.) Gopher tortoise. Retrieved 27 October 2023 from https://srelherp.uga.edu/turtles/gopher-tortoise/
Tortoise & Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group. (1996). Gopherus polyphemus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved from https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9403/12983629
Zoo Atlanta Animal Care Team
Updated July 2024
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