Biologists in slow and steady race to help North America's largest and rarest tortoise species
tortoise species is unknown, biologists have said it could span upward of a century. So saving the endangered species is a long game — one that got another nudge forward on Friday as US wildlife officials finalised an agreement with Ted Turner's Endangered Species Fund that clears the way for the release of more Bolson tortoises on the media mogul's ranch in central New Mexico.
The «safe harbour agreement» will facilitate the release of captive tortoises on the Armendaris Ranch to establish a free-ranging population.
US Fish and Wildlife Service Director Martha Williams said the agreement, which offers private landowners protections from regulations, can serve as a model as officials look for more innovative ways to work within the Endangered Species Act.
Dozens of people gathered for the release on Friday of 20 more adult tortoises on the property, which is already home to 23 of them as well as dozens of juvenile ones. With the sun high in the sky and temperatures nearing 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius), the release was held off until the evening to ensure their well-being.
The tortoises usually spend about 85 per cent of the time in their earthen burrows, which in some cases can be about 21 yards (20 metres) long.
Shawn Sartorius, a field supervisor with the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the results of the breeding and restoration efforts for the slow-reproducing and long-lived animals will not be known in his lifetime.
«What we're doing here is establishing a population here that can be handed off to the next generation,» Sartorius said.
It's a step toward one day releasing the tortoise more broadly in the Southwest as conservationists push the federal government to consider crafting a recovery plan for the species.
