California declares Mojave desert tortoise endangered amid sharp decline

Spotting a Mojave Desert tortoise in the American Southwest is becoming rare, with populations in four of the species’ five primary regions down by about 90% since 1984, according to some estimates.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife this year reclassified the tortoise from “threatened” to “endangered” under the state’s Endangered Species Act, warning the species could go extinct without proper management. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has listed it as threatened since 1990. 

“The uplisting highlights the urgency of tortoise conservation needs,” agency spokesperson Krysten Kellum told NPR, adding the change could help secure more funding for recovery efforts.

The move comes as the Trump administration has proposed budget cuts to the USFWS, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service — all of which manage endangered species on federal lands. Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency dismissed 420 probationary USFWS staff, while nearly 300 others accepted deferred resignation offers.

USFWS spokesperson Garrett Peterson said the agency remains committed to conserving wildlife but “could not comment on personnel matters or on Congressional deliberations regarding appropriations.”

Kristina Drake, former head of the Desert Tortoise Recovery Office, said she does not expect additional federal funding. “They are amazing animals when you get to know ’em,” she said. “We’re just not really giving them a chance.”

Scientists cite multiple threats to the tortoise, including habitat loss, vehicle collisions, disease, predators, and climate change — a decline one researcher described as “death from a thousand cuts.”

“Climate change is one of those things, and it’s not minor at all,” said Cameron Barrows of the University of California, Riverside. Hotter temperatures and prolonged droughts, he noted, can affect the sex of hatchlings and stress female tortoises during egg-laying.

Jeff Lovich, a retired U.S. Geological Survey scientist, said drought from 2012 to 2016 caused “a big decline in female tortoises” due to the toll of egg production.

Conservationists call tortoises “ecosystem engineers” because their abandoned burrows shelter birds, snakes, and small mammals. “If you took the tortoise away, you would take away that service that they provide for other species,” Lovich said.

Ed LaRue of the Desert Tortoise Council said California’s review concluded the tortoise “is worse off now than it was when it was formally listed back in 1989.”

Patrick Emblidge and Clay Noss of the Mojave Desert Land Trust recently spotted two tortoises near Joshua Tree — a rare event. “They’re at serious risk of going extinct and it’s terribly unjust,” Emblidge said.

With federal resources unlikely to increase, Drake said nonprofit groups will have to “hold the line for a few years” to protect the species and its ecosystem.

By Sabina Mammadli