In Arizona, Agassiz desert tortoises are protected by the Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 17-306, which states that it is illegal to release wild animals (including Agassiz desert tortoises) into Arizona without prior permission from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. ARS 17-309 sets the penalty for a violation. According to Arizona Administrative Code R12-4-402, it is illegal to import, export or sell live wildlife, including Agassiz desert tortoises. It is illegal to breed Agassiz desert tortoises in captivity or export an Agassiz desert tortoise from Arizona. FEDERAL – Mojave population protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 (as amended), sections 7, 9 and 10. Section 7 requires federal agencies to implement conservation programs and ensure that their actions do not jeopardize the survival of a listed species or result in the destruction or harmful alteration of critical habitat. Section 9 prohibits ingestion. Clause 10 deals with habitat conservation planning. Includes California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona north of the Grand Canyon. Catching is defined as “harassing, wounding, chasing, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, catching, catching or gathering or attempting to engage in such activity.” ARIZONA – There is no state authority that regulates habitat change. Desert tortoises possessed without a special permit before January 1, 1988 may be possessed, transported, multiplied and donated (R12-4-407). The possession limit under this regulation is one desert tortoise per person.
Laws of the State of Arizona: 1. Prohibit importation or transportation, sale, trade or release in the state.2. Prohibit the exchange, sale or offer for sale of wildlife or parts of wildlife that have been illegally stolen during a closed season. There is no open season for collecting or hunting turtles. Morafka desert tortoises are listed under the Endangered Species Act under section 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations 17.51 because of their “similarity in appearance” to Agassiz desert tortoises. As such, they are treated as threatened (50 Code of Federal Regulations 17.51) if found outside their territory of origin in Arizona and Mexico (50 Code of Federal Regulations 17.11(h)). Only gopher turtles and desert tortoises are native to the United States and all protected by state or federal laws. Collecting, possessing, selling or transporting is illegal without a special permit. Regarding the possession, purchase or sale of non-native and/or imported turtles, in almost all cases they fall under the turtle rules and regulations found here on our “Turtle Laws” pages. “Turtle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tortoise. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
Desert tortoise – Gopherus agassizii, Gopherus berlandieri, Gopherus morafkaiThe laws and regulations for the desert tortoise differ depending on the state, the location in the state, and whether the desert tortoise is a captured or wild animal. In most places, the skeletal remains of the shell are also protected by law and can only be collected with permission. People can be punished for picking up, harassing, shooting, injuring, killing or buying a desert tortoise under existing state laws. Populations classified as threatened by the federal government are also protected by the federal Endangered Species Act of 1973. The Summary of Federal and State Laws or Regulations and Penalties (below) provides a summary of the laws and regulations of the government agency (federal or state) and the state in which the turtles occur. In California, the Agassiz Desert tortoise is listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. In general, it is illegal to sell, buy, injure, take, possess, transport, throw or throw a projectile at or take turtles in California`s Agassiz Desert out of the state. (California Fish and Game Code, Division 5. Protected reptiles and amphibians, Article 1. Desert tortoises [5000 – 5002]). Subscribe to America`s largest dictionary and get thousands of other definitions and an advanced search – ad-free! Nglish: Translation of turtle for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article on the turtle Agassiz`s desert tortoise is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. According to this law, the capture of the Agassiz desert tortoise is prohibited.
“Taking” means harassment, harm, persecution, hunting, shooting, injury, killing, capture, capture or gathering, or attempting to engage in such conduct (Section 3 (19) of the Federal Endangered Species Act, 1973, as amended). Possession of an Agassiz desert wild tortoise is prohibited as possession is included in the capture or assembly. In addition, it is illegal to supply, receive, transport, transport or ship threatened or endangered wildlife by any means and in the course of commercial activity (50 Code of Federal Regulations 17.21(e) and 50 Code of Federal Regulations 17.31(a)). In addition, 50 Code of Federal Regulations 10.12 defines wildlife as any wild animal, living or dead, including, but not limited to, wild mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, crustaceans, arthropods, celentirates or other invertebrates, whether bred, hatched or born in captivity, including all parts, products, eggs or descendants thereof. The federal Endangered Species Act protects turtles in the Agassiz Desert in California, Nevada, Utah and, for populations west of the Colorado River, in Arizona. Agassiz Desert turtle populations east of the Colorado River in Arizona are not currently protected by the federal Endangered Species Act, but are protected by state law (see below). In Utah, the Agassiz desert tortoise is protected by Utah Administrative Rule (R657-53), which prohibits the removal or harm of desert tortoises from the wild and the possession, breeding or importation of desert tortoises. The release of captive desert turtles into the wild is illegal in Utah. is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The 50 CFR 17.21 and 17.31 Act and Implementation Rules contain a number of general prohibitions and exemptions that apply to all threatened wildlife species. These prohibitions make it illegal for any person under U.S. jurisdiction to take, import, or export, ship currency listed in interstate commerce, or sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce. It is also illegal to possess, sell, supply, transport, transport or ship such illegally captured wildlife. (Text taken directly from Federal Register Vol. 52 No. 129.) In Nevada, the Agassiz Desert tortoise is protected by the Nevada Revised Statute (NRS 501.100) and the Nevada Administrative Code (NAC 503.080). Agassiz`s Nevada desert turtles are considered wild animals (NRS 501,097) and belong to the people of Nevada (NRS 501,100). Gopher turtleGopherus polyphemusThe gopher turtle lives in dry, sandy highlands, such as oak sand hills, scrub, shallow pine forests, and coastal dunes in the southeastern United States. It is the only turtle in the east of the country.
Human activities have eliminated gopher turtles from a significant portion of their historical range, but they are still found in Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia, with the majority of the remaining population living in Florida. They are protected by federal law in Alabama counties west of the Mobile and Tombigbee rivers, Mississippi and Louisiana. The western part of the area where these sample phrases are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “turtle”. The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. attached to the turtle according to the instructions of the ministry. (c) No turtle may be transferred to another person without the prior approval of the Ministry. (d) Possession of a desert tortoise, regardless of its subspecies, except under a ministerial permit, is in CALIFORNIA – Desert tortoises may only be possessed with the authorization of a permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Department may grant a licence to possess a desert tortoise, provided that the turtle was legally acquired and possessed before March 7, 1973. (a) The Department may require the applicant for a permit to provide proof of the legal acquisition of a desert tortoise. (b) Applications for turtle permits must be submitted on Ministry forms and may be submitted to To further explain the laws in states that specifically address native turtles, here is a summary of the laws of the states in which they are native: ALABAMA – Threatened. Greatly reduced by historical abundance; distributed locally only in a few protected areas. Population of the West (LOUISIANA; MISSISSIPPI and Mobile, Washington and Choctaw counties in Alabama) are classified as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and therefore protected by the federal government.
