ALBANY — Love is in the air for Georgia’s official state reptile, and female gopher tortoises are busy laying clutches of eggs outside their burrows. Although gopher tortoises currently seem to be ...

BUTLER, Ga. (AP) — In a meadow where golden, waist-high grasses rippled beneath a brilliant blue sky, Georgia state herpetologist John Jensen hunched over a hole in the ground at Black Creek Natural ...

Not so long ago, one Georgia species was in critical danger of extinction, but in 2022 for the ecosystem, The US Fish and Wildlife Service declared the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)to be no ...

Palm Beach Gardens City Manager Ron Ferris reacted Thursday after Stet News reported that a daily visitor to a city park worried that the city may have destroyed the habitat of a dozen gopher ...

ATLANTA — The Georgia Gopher Tortoise Initiative has successfully reached its goal of permanently protecting 65 viable gopher tortoise populations, as announced by the Georgia Department of Natural ...

When Samantha S. and her family bought just over 2 acres in Middleburg, FL, in September 2021, they thought they’d found the perfect place to put down roots. The wooded lot, just minutes from Jennings ...

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The Georgia Gopher Tortoise Initiative has reached its goal of permanently protecting 65 viable tortoise populations, according to a news release from the Georgia Department of ...

Slow and steady wins the race, but unhurried preservation measures could lead to the Florida gopher tortoises’ demise. “They are these incredible ecosystem engineers,” said Elise Bennett, Florida and ...

As this keystone species' name suggests, the gopher tortoise is an expert at living underground — like a gopher. Gopher tortoises have shovel-like front legs and strong, thick back legs to help them ...

Listen to a Narrated Version of This Story in the ICYMI Series for the Line Life Podcast Wes Graham holds up his hand like a sergeant halting his squad. “See him? There he is,” he said. The ...

“It was just peaceful and quiet. We loved the area. My aunt actually lives right next door,” she says. “And it would be within the same school district that our kids are in now.” The plan was simple: ...