Though notoriously slow to the finish line, the
desert tortoise came out ahead this April in the first
endangered-species act case to be prosecuted in Idaho in 15
years.
Russell G. Jones of Star, Idaho, pleaded
guilty to unlawful possession of a protected species under federal
law and was fined $1,000 and ordered to serve two months’ home
detention and three years’ probation. He also faced state fines of
$3,000. Jones admitted stealing two rare desert tortoises from Snow
Canyon State Park northwest of St. George in southern
Utah.
Although protected as threatened, the
two-pound, dinner-plate-sized tortoise continues to be snatched
illegally from its Mojave Desert home and sold to pet stores or to
people wanting them as pets. And once in private hands, said Paul
Weyland, U.S. Fish and Wildlife special agent, “you don’t know if
they’ve been captured illegally or not.”
There
are at least 100 kinds of terrestrial tortoises, said Ted Owens,
wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and it
would be difficult for a buyer to differentiate among them. But the
desert tortoise is very noticeable for its plainness. “It’s the
color of sand all over its body,” he said.
“The
problem is with tortoises, you can walk right up to them,” Owens
added. “There are a lot of people out there in the wide open
spaces, and our law enforcement presence is pretty thin.”
* Jennifer
Chergo
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Victory for the tortoise.
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