Sad news: 2 Marco Island Gopher Tortoises killed

The need for vigilance in protecting one of Marco Island's keystone species became all the more clear to me yesterday (April 13) just a block from my home. Just south of the intersection of Hawaii and South Barfield, a large female gopher tortoise was struck by a car and killed.

She was unmarked - meaning she wasn't part of Julie Ross's ongoing study. The loss of an adult female is deeply harmful to a small, isolated population with low reproductive rates and late sexual maturity.

I was telling my neighbor about this sad news this morning, and he told me he witnessed another gopher tortoise collision a week or so earlier, just across the street from the one I encountered. This means two gopher tortoises lost in close proximity in about a single week.

All this intensifies our need to discuss ways to protect gopher tortoises from roadkill and habitat destruction. We'll post photos (discretion required) at our website, http://sites.google.com/site/ecomarcowildlife/home.