Protecting gopher tortoises, a threatened Florida species

Josephine Santana is passionate about wildlife photography, and one of her favorite subjects to photograph is the gopher tortoises living near her Lehigh Acres home.

“I’ve seen them since my kids went to school, I’d say about in 2004,” Santana said. “They were always big, and so I looked up what kind of turtle it was, and I found out that they were gopher turtles.”

Gopher tortoises are a threatened and protected species in Florida. The lot got foreclosed on in 2008, someone bought it years later, but until recently, it sat vacant.

“Seven o’clock in the morning, I wake up to a loud noise in front of my house and just freaked me out,” Santana said.

A permit posted outside the seven-and-a-half acre plot gives the owner permission to remove vegetation, but the tortoises are a different story.

FWC explained to WINK News that you need a gopher tortoise relocation permit for any development that could impact the animal’s burrow within a 25-foot radius. However, if it’s possible to avoid the burrows within 25 feet, a permit may not be required.

Relocating tortoises also requires a permit. In this particular case, FWC said no rules had been violated. Regardless, Santana prefers her slice of nature.

“We have a lot of land around here that these animals are… There’s no place for them to go. You know, stop building. Think about the animals around here,” Santana said.

The gopher tortoise is a state-designated threatened species. The threatened species can live up to 60 years in the wild.