Alabama Gopher Tortoise Day is April 10

Alabama Gopher Tortoise Day is April 10

The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources encourages all Alabamians to celebrate Gopher Tortoise Day on April 10. Gopher Tortoise Day was started by the Gopher Tortoise Council, a group formed in 1978 by southeastern biologists and other citizens concerned with the decline of the species. In Alabama, gopher tortoises are state and federally protected and found in 23 counties in the lower third of the state. They are frequently encountered in neighborhoods, along roadways and on many of the state’s private and public lands. Gopher tortoises are a keystone species because they dig huge underground burrows that provide refuge for over 360 other wildlife species. Among the species that benefit from sharing its burrows are the gopher frog, Eastern indigo snake and hundreds of invertebrates like beetles and crickets. Without gopher tortoise burrows, many of these species might not survive. For more info, visit outdooralabama.com.