Male desert tortoise eating beavertail prickly pear
By Southwest Biological Science Center
June 2022 (approx.)
Detailed Description
A radioed male tortoise in the Santa Rosa Mountains, CA eating a beavertail prickly pear cactus. During the extreme drought conditions we are experiencing, that is the only food available for them with any moisture. They have to cope with all the little spiny gloccids (hair-like spines) that cover the pads of the cactus. Video provided by Dr. Bill Hoese at California State University, Fullerton provided to Jeff Lovich, SBSC, USGS with permission to use.
Sources/Usage
Public Domain.
Video courtesy of Dr. Bill Hoese at California State University, Fullerton provided to Jeff Lovich, SBSC, USGS with permission to use.
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Desert Tortoise Ecology
Agassiz’s desert tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii) approach the southern edge of their mostly Mojave Desert range near Joshua Tree National Park. Modern desert tortoise research started in the Park in 1978 when the first tortoise population census was conducted on a one square mile area in the Pinto Basin known as the “Barrow Plot.” U.S. Geological Survey research began at the plot in 1997 and...
Related
Desert Tortoise Ecology
Agassiz’s desert tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii) approach the southern edge of their mostly Mojave Desert range near Joshua Tree National Park. Modern desert tortoise research started in the Park in 1978 when the first tortoise population census was conducted on a one square mile area in the Pinto Basin known as the “Barrow Plot.” U.S. Geological Survey research began at the plot in 1997 and...