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Article: Tortoises get new digs: Four taken near Maitland Boulevard go free in the Panhandle.
- Article from:
- The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL)
- Article date:
- May 24, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 The Orlando Sentinel. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Kevin Spear
May 24--Four gopher tortoises, spared this week from death at a Central Florida construction site, were set free early Wednesday morning, 375 miles away in a Panhandle field lush with bluestem grass.
They were an odd sight, marked by identification codes and fitted with radio transmitters, and are part of a high-profile experiment. No other Florida tortoises, a species accelerating toward extinction, are known to have been moved such a great distance for their protection.
In a few weeks, state authorities are expected to stop the controversial practice of letting builders kill or entomb tortoises for a fee of hundreds of ...