Gravid gopher tortoise admitted to wildlife hospital

By Joanna Fitzgerald | Director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital

A gopher tortoise was among the 120 patients admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida this past week.

The gopher tortoise was admitted to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital after two people took action to try to get the tortoise the care she needed. The story relayed to hospital staff was that an electrician found someone with the gopher tortoise. The electrician knew the person shouldn’t have the gopher tortoise, so he took the tortoise. A Conservancy volunteer saw the electrician (and the tortoise) and offered to bring the tortoise to the von Arx Wildlife Hospital so hospital staff could ensure the tortoise was healthy.

A physical exam showed the tortoise had no external injuries; she was alert and very active. A radiograph revealed she was gravid and was carrying 10 eggs.

With no exact location information as to where the tortoise was originally found, she is now considered a “waif” tortoise. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission will need to approve a release location. The heartbreaking part of this story is that tortoises recognize their home territory and when moved, they can wander, continually searching for their familiar home territory.

Remarkably, within an hour of her admission, a second gravid gopher tortoise was admitted to our facility; her condition was dire. The second tortoise was found struggling on her back in the water, trapped amongst the roots of a mangrove forest. The area she came from was nowhere near suitable gopher tortoise habitat so how the poor girl ended up there is a mystery. Hospital staff placed the tortoise on oxygen in an animal intensive unit but the trauma she endured was too severe; she passed away overnight.

Animals displaced by human activity, whether intentional or not, is a common occurrence and can literally prove fatal for the animal. Please, if you find an animal you believe is in harm’s way or, is in a habitat that you feel is inappropriate, call the wildlife hospital for guidance. There are many laws that prohibit relocating wildlife but most importantly, the majority of people misidentify species of wildlife and move them to inappropriate locations. Improper habitat means the animal won’t have the essentials it needs to survive.

Thank You

Staff at the von Arx Wildlife Hospital have been incredibly busy caring for the animals at the hospital while admitting between fifteen to thirty new patients per day. Due to Covid, we have been operating with a decreased number of staff and volunteers leading to limitations to the services we are able to provide, one of which is being able to provide patient updates. Staff appreciates that people have taken time out of their day to help an animal that is suffering and if we could, we would provide patient updates but providing patient updates was taking between three to four hours out of our day. With animal’s lives on the line, we made a choice. Our choice was to keep the needs of our animal patients our priority and focus.

I wanted to thank those of you who realize the difficult situation we are in and for being kind and understanding. Hospital staff is doing their absolute best under incredibly trying circumstances and the kindness some people have shown means the world to us. Thank you.

Recent Releases

Ten brown pelicans, two double-crested cormorants, a blue jay, three eastern cottontails, four common grackles, a northern mockingbird, three royal terns, a marsh rabbit and two gopher tortoises were released this past week.

Opportunities to Help

Please visit the Conservancy website at www.conservancy.org and act now to protect native wildlife before it’s too late. Collier County has come to a crossroads and its future hangs in the balance. Without your voice, Collier County is poised to approve new villages that will threaten wildlife and our quality of life.

Joanna Fitzgerald is director of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, 1495 Smith Preserve Way, Naples, Florida 34102. Call 239–262–2273 or see conservancy.org