Disturbing a desert tortoise in its native habitat is not only risky for the tortoise, it's illegal, state officials say.

PHOENIX (AP) — They’re not fluffy, they don’t play fetch and they certainly don’t roll over. But there is such a thing as a lap tortoise. What’s more, pet tortoises can wag their tails, will plod on ...

It all began with the tortoise. In 1990, federal officials listed the Mojave Desert species as threatened across its range, touching off a series of new regulations and initiatives aimed at saving the ...

Seeing a turtle isn’t rare in California, especially in ponds and lakes in city parks. Unfortunately, many are abandoned pets and might be species from anywhere in the world. Only one type, ...

Spotting a Mojave Desert tortoise is increasingly difficult in the American Southwest. The tortoises, with their unmistakable domed patterned shells, live in California, parts of Nevada, Arizona and ...

This paper describes an interdisciplinary study of the habitat requirements of threatened desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) on eight 225-ha study plots in a 14 000 ha study area near the southern ...

A team of scientists and students are tracking desert tortoises across the desert with tools like radios and fluorescent powder to record data on the climate resistance of the tortoise's reproductive ...

What has four scaly legs and spends 90% of its life underground? It could be your new pet. The Arizona Game and Fish Department’s desert tortoise adoption program began last week with more than 300 ...

PHOENIX — They’re not fluffy, they don’t play fetch and they certainly don’t roll over. But there is such a thing as a lap tortoise. Dotty the desert tortoise climbs into the lap of Seyda Robertson in ...

Since 1966, common raven (Corvus corax; raven) abundance has increased throughout much of this species’ Holarctic distribution, fueled by an ever-expanding supply of anthropogenic resource subsidies ...

With openings in the fence and improved growth of plants vital for tortoise survival, solar farms in Nevada can provide better habitat than the surrounding desert. First Solar has found similar ...