All the heavy equipment is in place and construction was set to begin on Pensacola's new fire station on Summit Boulevard, but a required site survey uncovered a gopher tortoise burrow.That means ...

Gopher tortoises are a keystone species —- when their numbers decline, other dependent species wane as well. They and their oval-shaped burrows are protected under state law.

Collapsed burrows. Alarmed neighbors. Slow agency response. The destruction of a once-thriving gopher tortoise community in Lehigh Acres last week typifies what’s happening to the threatened ...

They instinctively know to dig just above the water table. "The burrow itself is an awesome work of engineering,” said Gerry-Ana Jones of the Indian River County Gopher Tortoise Alliance. “They are so ...

AUBURNDALE — A lucky gopher tortoise was dug out of its Auburndale burrow after being entombed by developers, leaving residents wondering whether more are trapped. Auburndale resident Ken ...

Nearly 300 gopher tortoises will lose their homes if a developer is allowed to build a new Treasure Coast neighborhood atop nearly 600 burrows — which another 365 species depend on to survive.

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 ...

In fact, gopher tortoises spend as much as 80% of their time in burrows. Hundreds of other species take up residence in the dugouts, and many of them wouldn’t survive without the protection.

Gopher tortoises dig 15-foot tunnels, ... Tortoise burrows serve as habitat for other Florida animals. FWC says they spend about 80% of their lives in their burrows, ...

Florida gopher tortoises are a threatened species and 365 others depend on their burrows. Florida development boom is leaving little room for the native land tortoises.