State officials are investigating after numerous recent gopher tortoise deaths at a popular beach destination.

It’s exactly those burrows that make the gopher tortoise so important, and why they’re the subject of such strong protections from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

The gopher tortoise: A protected species in a high-demand habitat “Tortoises worldwide are basically all threatened with extinction because they use exactly the same kinds of habitats that people use, ...

Gopher tortoise burrows can be more than 20 feet long, according to Meylan, providing critical shelter not just for the tortoises but also for hundreds of other animals that depend on them to ...

Gopher tortoise burrows can be more than 20 feet long, according to Meylan, providing critical shelter not just for the tortoises but also for hundreds of other animals that depend on them to ...