- Biologists are in a slow and steady race to help North America’s largest and
rarest Bolson tortoise species. - Bolson tortoises is the largest and rarest land reptile, as well as the rarest of
the six Gopherus species native to the North American Continent. - Adult males are generally smaller than females in this species.
- The tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile that spends more than 95% of its time
in a burrow that it constructs with its shovel-like front feet. - All foraging, nesting and mating activities take place during the tortoise’s
active season from roughly April to October. - The average life span of a Bolson tortoise is not known but probably lies
upward of a century. - This species at present, is restricted to a relatively small area of the
grasslands of north-central Mexico in the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and
Durango, where it exists in disjunct sub-populations.
Conservation status: - IUCN: Critically Endangered
