# Gopher Tortoise



## DanaLachney (Feb 15, 2012)

Was wondering, why doesn't anyone breed gopher tortoises? I saw a picture of one and their faces are just too adorable


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## dmmj (Feb 15, 2012)

Most states where they are, there are rules ( laws) against it.


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## DanaLachney (Feb 15, 2012)

Oh, was just curious because they are native to Louisiana which is where I'm from


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## Tropical Torts (Feb 15, 2012)

The gopher tortoise is an endangered species and is protected by law. Taking one from the wild is illegal here in florida and I am sure it is illegal in others southern states where gophers are found naturally. There are programs working on preserving this species through breeding but the hatchlings produced are not put up for sale.


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## DanaLachney (Feb 15, 2012)

Oh well that's good! I was just curious  why are they endangered?


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## Zamric (Feb 15, 2012)

...because they taste soooo good!


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## DanaLachney (Feb 15, 2012)

Ewww.


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## ALDABRAMAN (Feb 15, 2012)

jrcrist4 said:


> The gopher tortoise is an endangered species and is protected by law. Taking one from the wild is illegal here in florida and I am sure it is illegal in others southern states where gophers are found naturally. There are programs working on preserving this species through breeding but the hatchlings produced are not put up for sale.



*We see them in the wild often down here in SW Florida. Very neat to watch them here in the wild!*


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## Cephalopodia (Feb 15, 2012)

That's a part of it. Gopher Tortoise use to be called "Hoover Chicken". People would pull them out of their burrows and eat them. The young in Georgia are pretty vulnerable, whether to coyotes, feral dogs, even feral pigs. It takes quite a few years before a juvenile is safe from things like hawks, even. There isn't much of their natural habitat left, either. They do well in longleaf pine forests, but most of those have been logged. It's a slow growing tree, so once it was cut down something else replaced it. And of course, sometimes people want to live where tortoises do. It's rough being a gopher tortoise out in the wild...guess that's why they spend so much time in their burrows.


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