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NAPLES DAILY NEWS (Florida) 27 March 08 Gopher tortoises found in bathtub during bust of Bonita brothel (Valli Finney) {Excerpts}
In some cultures, gopher tortoises are believed to have aphrodisiac qualities, according to folklore.
But Lee County Sheriff deputies were surprised to find three gopher tortoises in a Bonita Springs home after busting up a prostitution ring.
Deputies arrested two men — Jose Yosimar Fajardo, 21, and Braulio Michael Acevedo — Thursday and charged them with running a brothel, at 26659 Stardust Dr., where men were paying $25 for sex.
Acevedo also got booked in the Lee County jail on a felony cruelty charge in relation to the tortoises. In Florida, the gopher tortoise is a threatened species protected by state and federal laws.
Deputies found the three reptiles living in a bathtub filled with feces and dirty, cold water.
The gopher tortoises were found unresponsive and cold, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission spokesperson Joanne Adams. Deputies put the tortoises in their patrol cars with the heater on and saved them.
All three tortoises survived and later were released into the wild at Babcock Ranch, Adams said.
“We really don’t know what they used them for,” Adams said. “They could have wanted to eat them or maybe they wanted them for pets. Just like alligators and snakes, some people think of these animals as exotic pets.”
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Gopher tortoises found in bathtub during bust of Bonita brothel

i just saw the pics in this article -- how sick is that?!?

what's sad, though, is that it's only being treated as a felony because they are gopher tortoises. and what's weird is that it's a felony in this case, but not in the cases of the developers who get to pay to bury them alive.

what a messed up world...

That's what I'm thinking. This world is messed up. I mean, why even have them on the endangered and protected list when they just let them bury them alive?

You think this is bad. Texas tortoises are offered even less legal protection. The only animals I've ever seen were wounded and dead animals on highways. They are readily displaced without any legal bearing whatsoever. At least I've never seen any pop up in petstores, but given their rarity, such would be highly improbable. It is a shame, as they were once rather common in the seventies, when San Antonio was pressing development southward, and many clearing workers took animals home as pets. I've never met anyone who still had one of these development refugees, most having sad stories of tortoises dead within a few months from substandard aquarium/kitchen food centered captive conditions. This is a shame, as I'm sure anyone here would love the opportunity to breed such animals in captivity. I've always heard about Desert Tortoises and the successes achived in captive breeding and various state sponsored adoption programs. Why is there nothing of comparable repute or profusion for the Texas Tortoise? Pardon my ignorance, but is there any sort of organizational network in place for Florida Gopher Tortoises?

T.G.

Poor Fl. Gopher tortoises,they are also sick in the wild with a virus! This makes relocation a huge risk.Yes,they are dozzed over.Some make an effort to relocate but its FLORIDA and there is a lot of wet land which they will not let them build on and inforce it to the insane degree.So its back to the sand hills.My friend Tim Hoen puts on a reptile expo and uses the money to buy rainforest in Central America,so it won't be logged out.We should try this in the USA.Its called compeating with the land devolopers!You know, the American way,the guy with the most money wins.So lets all buy land in Fl.Texas,Calif.were ever these tortoises are in danger.Conservation by Capitalism OR the State devaluing your private owned land.The State here wants to take away our animals and our land.So if you have a Python or Palmetto palm... well,I got to go mow the saw grass se ya "shes got me under prussure"*b.gibbins.....Vic. Pic of "Manouria which later gave rise to the genera Gopherus"*Auffernberg (1971 Copeia.p 106

According to this article, it is no longer legal to pave over Florida gopher tortoises. Is this correct?

Rare Tortoises' "Entombment" to End, Florida Officials Say

Key words..."phase out the program"

Note date and opening sentence of the article:

Adrianne Appel
for National Geographic News

August 10, 2007
Florida last week issued the last permits for its controversial "pave-and-pay" program, which has so far killed tens of thousands of rare gopher tortoises.

"There he goes again."*40 Key word permit"S" HOW MANY 10,10,000 meaning it is still going on and will for quite some time! I would guess in knowning this will be the last of the permits,there was a rush on them to get grandfathered in. This will also mean that a lot of land will suddenly have No Gopher tortoises living on it. It is privare land and they will build.But dont worry,O'blameo will save them! It seems it depends on "what the meaning of is,is"*42.

sheesh