Okay, I just thought I would throw this out to the vox populi on this Forum and see what type of responses it would instigate. Attended a meeting this weekend and a very strange plan was discussed regarding a proposal to entice California Fish and Wildlife to permit the release of long term captive tortoises that were residents of the Desert Conservation Center outside of Las Vegas. The Center is in the process of dissolving and dispersing its desert tortoise inventory. Those deemed too ill or too unfit for survival will be euthanized. It is my understanding that the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan Branch of the Fish and Wildlife offices in Reno, Nevada are discussing with CADF&W the proposal to release the healthy tortoises in selected areas of California's Mojave Desert. This would be done WITHOUT any genetic analysis to determine the EXACT original locality of each individual tortoise and no strict vetting to insure NONE of the tortoises to be released harbored the possibility of carrying highly communicable organisms such as mycoplasmosis. The most they proposed was three months of isolated observation to evaluate the presence of visible symptoms of RTI (Respiratory Tract Infection). Opinions?
Fire away...
A Flawed Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan?
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- chris_mcmartin
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Re: A Flawed Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan?
I'm less concerned about the genetics than I am about the potential for disease spreading. No plan to send out the ones not slated to be released, to educational personnel/institutions nationwide (instead of just killing them)? Could help raise money to perform wellness checks on those they DO want to release.klawnskale wrote:Opinions?
- Brian Hubbs
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Re: A Flawed Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan?
Yeah, well...remember, don't release any snakes outside their home range or they might spread disease. This is the rule. Oh, wait, snakes have NEVER spread disease in the U.S., have they?...but the tortoises have, so this is a bonehead idea... but, what can you expect from the govmint...logical thought?
Re: A Flawed Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan?
Its hard for me to imagine them releasing them back into the wild without checking for mycoplasmosis and other known diseases.
Re: A Flawed Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan?
All tortoises are health-screened prior to release (many times actually)