One of Southwest Florida’s most beloved reptiles is finally getting celebrated the way it always deserved to be. Gopher Tortoise Day is April 10, with the goal of raising awareness for the threatened species.
Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife (CCFW) wants the community to be aware that Lee County has joined with many municipalities in officially proclaiming April 10 as Gopher Tortoise Day. The purpose of Gopher Tortoise Day is to to raise awareness of this threatened species and conservation efforts to protect them.
The destruction of a once-thriving gopher tortoise community in Lehigh Acres last week typifies what’s happening to the threatened species throughout Southwest Florida, advocates say.
Imagine having the rare opportunity to have this “CLOSE ENCOUNTER” happen to you! Thank you to Charles Wellhausen for sharing this amazing video!
It has come to Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife’s attention that overzealous debris removal crews with huge excavators and tandem debris trucks are scraping the lots and the banks of canals across a wide swath of Cape Coral.
The passionate defenders of Cape Coral’s burrowing owls are livid now that tractors are clearing debris from Hurricane Ian out of the city’s canals and possibly crushing dozens of owl and gopher tortoise burrows.
Ian resulted in the deaths of at least 130 people and displaced thousands more. Now, as residents begin to rebuild, questions remain about the future of its diverse, critically important native species.
The destruction of a once-thriving gopher tortoise community in Lehigh Acres last week typifies what’s happening to the threatened species throughout Southwest Florida, advocates say.
Neighbors in one Cape Coral neighborhood say they’re keeping an eye out for a pick up truck caught on camera driving through an empty lot that’s bustling with gopher tortoise burrows.
Florida conservationists said they were blindsided by an executive order last month that allows developers to relocate threatened gopher tortoises anywhere in the state.
Environmental advocates fear the gopher tortoise could lose some protections after a state agency decided to temporarily give developers more flexibility on where gopher tortoises can be relocated.
Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife is working with the City of Cape Coral to designate land in a Northwest Cape Coral neighborhood for gopher tortoise habitat.
Cape Coral environmental activists are pushing for more protections for gopher tortoises in the city, through an ordinance and the designation of a preserve.
Two of Cape Coral’s best-known residents, the gopher tortoise and the burrowing owl, will soon be living in protected lots all over the city.