Once known as 'Hoover chickens,' the long-lived gopher tortoises are now at the center of a growing conservation battle.

A rescued gopher tortoise arrived at the Nokuse Nature Preserve in Florida’s Panhandle while my sister Erica and I were there. It didn’t know how lucky it was. Across Florida, builders are required to ...

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has upgraded the gopher tortoise’s fragility rating from vulnerable to ...

Florida's gopher tortoise, a quiet but vital presence across the Southeast, has received a troubling new designation. The species is now listed as critically endangered, a sign that one of Florida's ...

The devastating Hurricane Helene arrived at Florida’s Big Bend region in late September 2024. Unfortunately, the category four storm brought much damage through massive flooding, intense tornadoes, ...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Though gopher tortoises have persisted for millions of years, they now face a barrage of threats from loss of habitat and developers with permits that allow the reptiles to be buried ...

Florida gopher tortoises are a threatened species and 365 others depend on their burrows. Florida development boom is leaving little room for the native land tortoises. Developers may have to relocate ...

Florida is home to plenty of species that need no introduction: alligators, crocodiles, panthers, or manatees. However, a silent sentinel lies within burrows of Florida's grounds. The gopher tortoise ...

GAINSVILLE, FLA – To improve my chances, and because wandering around sandy scrub at dawn yelling ‘tortoise, please’ isn’t a real strategy, I arranged to meet Katherine Saylor, the Southeastern ...

“It was just peaceful and quiet. We loved the area. My aunt actually lives right next door,” she says. “And it would be within the same school district that our kids are in now.” The plan was simple: ...