Project: The area occupied by Mojave Desert tortoise populations been on a persistent downward slope. Formerly heavily occupied areas have declined, and across their range tortoises are found at very low densities.  Key factors contributing to their decline include disease and development. In partnership with the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the Nevada Department of Wildlife, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance operated the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center situated within an 11,014-acre management area representing one of the last large, intact tracts of Mojave Desert in the Las Vegas Valley.

 

Role: I  managed center and staff operations, working closely with our partners to develop novel reserach and develoment studies. I visted the centre regularly, living in Las Vegas casinos for extended visits. Daily life at the centre starts at 3 am to beat the intense desert heat ! The Center temporarily holds formerly wild and pet tortoises (either removed from the path of development or unwanted), and provides a hub for training and scientific work to tackle the issues of disease, husbandry, nutrition, survival in the wild, and reintroduction back to the wild, thereby contributing to the recovery of the species. In my tenure at the center, I shifted management staffing, developed partnerships to include novel partners such as the Nevada National Security Site, helped develop and run an annual training course aimed at professional biologists,  and contributed to research on the health assessment of tortoises, and aspects of translocation and disease biology. I worked with Post Doctoral Student Dr Jen Germano, assisting in health assessing tortoises and translocating and radiotracking them in dedicated areas within the Mojave Desert. I  coordinated mitigation funding from multiple Solar Power companies, and we instigated projects to examine the implications - genetics, disease, survival, habitat use - of animal translocations out of the pathway of solar power developments.

 

The decision to close the center was made by USFWS and our extended partners in 2013, and I developed and implement an exit strategy. All staff stayed until we had moved and translocated all tortoises and closed the research facilities, moving items such and -80 degree freezers with stored samples.  In 2014 my team was awarded a commendation by Senator Harry Reid and by USFWS for our contributions to desert tortoise recovery. Our partnership remains strong, and several joint field research studies continue to this day.

 

 

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