The Desert Tortoise is able to live where ground temperature may exceed 140 degrees F.
95% of a Desert Tortoise’s life is spent in underground burrows.
Ravens have caused more than 50 percent of juvenile Desert Tortoise deaths in some areas of the Mojave Desert.
Adult tortoises may survive a year or more without access to water.
Desert Tortoise populations have declined by 90 percent since the 1980s.
Ravens are now one of the Desert turtle’s primary predators.
Much of the tortoise’s water intake comes from moisture in the grasses and wildflowers they consume in the spring.
It is unlawful to touch, harm, harass or collect a wild Desert Tortoise

Crawling along the desert floor, this tortoise
weighs about eight pounds and was about
eighteen inches long. It was one of the two
tortoises that the visitor center at the red
rock conservation area kept because it is
an endangered species, and was taken
throughout Las Vegas to classrooms to
educate children.