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Gopherus sp.
I'm not sure of this tortoise's true identity. He's either a Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) or Morafka's desert tortoise (Gopherus morafkai). According to zoo records, he was "found wandering around Tulsa" back in 1989, and was brought to the zoo. Someone obviously collected him from the wild and had him as a pet. He was either intentionally released or he escaped from a yard and was never found by his owners. I have had the pleasure of taking care of Chief since 1999. He spends a lot of time in a winter burrow but occasionally comes out to bask and eat from the bird bowls. :-)
This spotting took place at Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum.
Spotted on Jan 26, 2014
Submitted on Jan 31, 2014
4 Comments
Ooops ... my mistake, sorry Aaron.
I just edited the text to be more clear. :-)
Sorry, I meant to add more information to the description. I know he's a desert tortoise from the United States. I just don't know which species (there are 2).
Not sure, but it looks like Geochelone sulcata. If so, it came from Africa.