The Desert Tortoise Still Has a Chance!

The desert tortoise is an ancient species that is superbly well adapted to the deserts of the Southwest. However, the tortoise is now in danger of extinction due to a variety of factors, including habitat degradation, invasive species, respiratory disease, and predation by ravens. In this latest episode of 90 Miles from Needles, Tim Shields of Hardshell Labs and Lucas Basulto of Saving Slowpoke discuss the decline of the desert tortoise population and the various factors contributing to it. They also outline the work they are doing to try to save the tortoise from extinction.Tim is a biologist who has dedicated his career to studying desert tortoises, and Luke is the founder of Saving Slowpoke, a organization dedicated to helping tortoises in captivity and the wild. They're here to talk about the many threats facing desert tortoises today and what we can do to help them.

Listen now: https://90milesfromneedles.com/episode/s1e21-the-desert-tortoise-still-has-a-chance

Reminder: we’ve got one more episode after this one before our December hiatus, and then we’ll start posting episodes again in early January.  

In the meantime, we’re trying to persuade a few more people to join our Patreon supporters: our target is 100 members by the end of the year. (As we write this, that number stands at 80. Easy goal, if you help!) Join our supporters at 90milesfromneedles.com/patreon with as small a commitment as $5 a month. If you don’t like Patreon, or can’t commit to a monthly donation for whatever reason, you can make a one-time donation to the podcast at 90milesfromneedles.com/kofi. We can’t do this without you!

— Alicia and Chris