Marco Island sees increase in gopher tortoise roadkill

Over the last two weeks, Gopher Tortoises have been hit on the road more often than usual.

According to the Marco Island Police Department, most gopher tortoises are getting hit on South Barfield Drive.

MIPD is teaming up with Audobon Western Everglades to put a stop to this.

“Some of these tortoises can be 40 to 60 years old. They live a very long time,” said Brittany Piersma, field biologist at Audubon Western Everglades.

There are an estimated 1,000 of tortoises that call Marco Island home, but six months into 2023, 20 of them have already been killed by cars.

“In the last two weeks, we had five tortoises that were hit by cars, none of which we were able to treat, we do work really closely with the conservancy of southwest Florida,” Piersma said.

And most of those accidents have happened along south Barfield Drive, a hotspot of sorts for gopher tortoises, one that the city, together with Audoban Western Everglades, has tried to make safer.

“We got permission from the landowners to put a silt fence along all four of those properties to reduce the amount of tortoises that going to enter that roadway,” Piersma said.

But what can you do to keep them safe? Well there’s the obvious answer: slow down. And if you see one trying to cross the road?

“Pull over, and you can move the tortoise in the direction it was going never put the tortoise back from where it came from always point the tortoise in the direction it was going,” said Chris Lechowicz from the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.

And if a tortoise is hit?

“You’re not going to get in trouble,” Piersma said. “It’s really important to report it, stay with it, if you can contain it if you can, and that way we can transport it to the conservancy of southwest Florida immediately.”

You can also make a habitat for them in your own yard, to limit them having to cross over into dangerous roads.

“The long term goal is to create sort of an urban wildlife connection throughout these properties,” Piersma said.

The critters are essential to the southwest Florida ecosystem, and they must be kept safe.

“It’s a keystone species, which means the survival of this animal, it actually it’s directly involved with the survival of other animals,” Lechowicz said.

Neighbors said they have noticed a decrease in tortoise deaths on the side of the road, ever since signs went up.

But the thing about signs like these is they only work if you read them, and reading the sign might just save a tortoise’s life.

If you see a tortoise crossing the road, police want to remind everyone to come to a complete stop and let them cross the road.

Report any injured tortoises, alive or otherwise, to Collier County Audubon Society at 239-643-7822. You can also call Florida Fish and Wildlife at 888-404-3922.

For more information visit cityofmarcoisland.com or MYFWC.com.