New Mexico Project
Habitat Use and Survival of Reintroduced Juvenile Bolson Tortoises
May 2022 - December 2025
Personnel
- Abby Lawson, Principal Investigator
- Heather Zimba, Student / Post Doc
- Magnus McCaffery, Co-Principal Investigator
Participating Agencies
- Turner Institute of Ecoagriculture
The Bolson tortoise is the largest and rarest of the six Gopherus species native to North America. With the exception of captive breeding populations in New Mexico, the Bolson tortoise has been extirpated from its U.S. range for over 12,000 years. In cooperation with the USFWS and the Turner Ecoagriculture Institute, this study will evaluate survival rates and habitat use of juvenile Bolson tortoises released on a large private ranch in southern New Mexico. The results from this study will be used to inform future reintroduction decisions within the species historic range in the Chihuahuan Desert.
| Presentations | Presentation Date |
|---|---|
| Zimba, H., M. McCaffery, C. Wiese, S. Hillard, A.J. Lawson. 2024. Habitat selection of translocated juvenile Bolson tortoises. NMSU Biosymposium; Las Cruces, New Mexico. April 20th, 2024. | April 2024 |
| Zimba, H., M. McCaffery, C. Wiese, S. Hillard, A.J. Lawson. 2024. Habitat selection of translocated Bolson tortoises. NMSU Research and Creativity Week; Las Cruces, New Mexico. February 26 – March 1st, 2024. | February 2024 |
| Zimba, H., M. McCaffery, C. Wiese, S. Hillard, A.J. Lawson. 2024. Burrow site selection of translocated juvenile Bolson tortoises. Joint Annual Meeting of Arizona/New Mexico Chapters of The Wildlife Society; Flagstaff, Arizona. February 1 – 3rd, 2024. | February 2024 |