ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating after a third of the gopher tortoise population has died at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in St. Petersburg.
The city first alerted state wildlife officials after finding nearly 60 tortoise carcasses over the last six weeks at the preserve.
People walk the trail and enjoy the wildlife in the preserve.
Alexandra Rogers said she often sees gopher tortoises and their burrows. She heard about the recent deaths.
"It's very concerning just growing up here, big part of life, you just see them everywhere around my parents house and everything so that would be pretty sad to lose a substantial amount," said Rogers.
Gopher tortoises are a threatened species; both the tortoise and its burrow are protected under Florida law.
Spencer Shultz with ZooTampa explained how they're essential to the ecosystem. The zoo has six gopher tortoises.
"They are a keystone species which basically means the impact they have on the environment impacts multiple other species and environment as a whole which is one of the reasons they are a big deal. The burrows that they dig are used by over 350 different species," Shultz said.
FWC officials said staff went out to collect samples. They did not observe any fresh carcasses and only observed healthy animals.
They took samples and are testing them for pathogens.
At this point, FWC does not know if predators or disease are contributing to the deaths.
"We are currently working with several partners in the field and laboratory to actively test for multiple pathogens from samples throughout the state to build a better knowledge base," the FWC said in a statement. "There are several pathogens of interest that we try and test for from live animals and carcasses that are documented to be associated with mortality in Gopher Tortoises."
FWC officials set up cameras and will return next month to look at the footage.
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