Desert Tortoise
A new habitat has been created for the endangered desert tortoise in what
was once the Zoo Playground. Once commonplace in the California deserts,
they now face threats from car and off-road traffic and suburban sprawl,
among other factors. Large, prehistoric looking chuckwalla lizards will
eventually share this exhibit space.
Habitat/Range: Desert areas in southwestern U.S., northwestern Mexico, excluding Baja California.
Description: Medium-sized with upper shell (carapace) average 14 inches that is brown or horn-colored, usually without definite pattern. Lower shell (plastron) is yellowish. Limbs are stocky, forelegs are covered in large conical scales, and toes have large claws. Mouth has sharp beak and no teeth.
Breeding: They don’t reach reproductive maturity until 25 to 30 years of age. Males fight for females by trying to turn each other over. Eggs have an incubation of 90 to 120 days and the hatchlings’ gender is determined by temperature: eggs incubated at 79 to 87 degrees become females, and eggs incubated at 88 to 91 degrees become males. There is no parental care.
Diet: Grass, leaves, weeds, cactus, other succulent plants, and flowers.
Status: The official reptile of California has been listed as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature due to human activities such as off-road traffic, suburban sprawl, and illegal collecting for the pet trade.
Fun Fact: They can live in places where the ground is as hot as 140 degrees; though they take shelter from extreme heat and cold in burrows. They can go for up to a year without ever drinking, getting most of the water they need from the plants they eat.
The Zoo’s Desert Tortoises: The Zoo has displayed three male tortoises for several years in a different location. Three females, from the Living Desert in Palm Desert, have recently arrived at the Zoo and will join the males in the new exhibit.
Western Chuckwalla – Not Yet on View
Habitat/Range: Southern desert areas of Utah and Nevada through deserts of California and Arizona to Sonora and eastern half of Baja Mexico; in rocky hillsides, lava flows and rock outcroppings.
Description: They are the second largest native lizard found in the U.S. and an adult male can measure up to 18 inches in length. Their color changes with age and varies with the color of the habitat, and they also are able to change color from dark to light in order to reflect or absorb heat. Males are usually dark brown to blackish with red or orange coloration along their sides, with tails and sides of light gray or cream, sometimes reddish. Females and young are often brown to blackish with bands across the body and tail.
Breeding: They breed from April to June with five to 16 eggs laid from June to August. Females may only lay eggs every two or three years.
Diet: Eats a variety of vegetation, especially creosote flowers, leaves, fruit, and occasionally insects.
Status: A Federal “Special of Special Concern” in areas of active desert development. Without disturbance, the populations appear to be stable.
Fun Fact: When disturbed, a chuckwalla will retreat into a rock crevice, inflating its body with air and using its strong claws and rough skin to tightly wedge itself into the crevice to make extraction difficult.
The Zoo’s Chuckwallas: The Zoo will obtain chuckwallas for this exhibit in coming months.