Heart of New Mexico: Tortoise comeback

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In a relatively small pen on Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch, tucked between Elephant Butte and White Sands, a beloved species is bouncing back from the brink of extinction.

A tortoise named “Gertie” has a lot to do with that.

“She frequently gets labeled as the matriarch of the colony,” said biologist Scott Hillard.

The Bolson tortoise once roamed the Chihuahuan Desert from Mexico all the way to the plains of Oklahoma. Now, the largest native land reptile in North America has retreated to a small area in Mexico and is critically endangered.

“This is a really long, slow game,” Hillard said. “There’s a lot of endangered species-work that you wonder if it’s really going to work. And this one, I see that it is.”

Hillard’s partner, biologist Chris Wiese said Gertie came to them after her previous owner died. A group of 30 Bolson tortoises were adopted and the Turner Endangered Species Fund has now expanded the population to over 700 tortoises in less than twenty years.

Wiese said the Bolson tortoise was first documented in the 1950s when a group of Zoologists discovered an unusual shell in Mexico. Because tortoises live such long lives, there’s still much unknown about the species.

“I can see success where you have stable populations, and it’ll probably happen in my lifetime.,” Hillard said. “That’s rare!”

In 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined the effort and allowed for the possibility of this endangered species to once again roam the New Mexican wilderness.

Seeing a Bolson in the wild is still likely years away. The first group of hatchlings is now entering adulthood. Relative rapid success has given this group a reason for optimism.

“Everybody has a turtle story,” Wiese said.

This one is a comeback.

For Related Stories: Ryan Laughlin Heart of New Mexico

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