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Helping Mojave Desert Tortoises Survive in a Rapidly Changing World
SAN DIEGO, PALM DESERT, Calif. (April 15, 2024) – Seventy critically endangered Mojave desert tortoises have successfully emerged from their winter burrows after being reintroduced into their native habitat on Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, the global authority on desert plant and wildlife conservation, are working in partnership with Edwards Air Force Base, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey, using headstarting techniques designed to increase the survival rate for young tortoises. The cohort of young tortoises was the first in the program to be reintroduced into the wild after receiving a combination of an indoor- and outdoor-rearing. Within 24 hours of reentering their native habitat, the tortoises were exhibiting positive natural behaviors by constructing new burrows or modifying existing burrows for shelter. Now, six months later, they have emerged after winter brumation—a state of deep sleep specific to reptiles—and are spending more time basking at burrow entrances. Scientists are currently conducting health assessments and replacing radio transmitters on the tortoises to continue monitoring their success and better understand the juvenile age class.
Regenerative medicine is proving to be a vital new therapeutic tool, offering vast new possibilities in veterinary care.
SAN DIEGO (May 12, 2022) – A 3-month-old giraffe calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has received a new lease on life, thanks to swift intervention by the conservation organization’s wildlife health and wildlife care teams to correct abnormalities that threatened the calf’s survival. The female youngster—named Msituni (pronounced see tune neee), which means “in the forest” in Swahili— received a pair of specialized giraffe-patterned orthotic braces that attached to her front legs to help correct a hyperextension of the carpi, bones that are equivalent to those in the human wrist.
The plight of a desert icon and our efforts to turn things around.