Why have a pet Sonoran desert tortoise?
The Sonoran desert tortoise is a threatened species throughout its range which includes both the Sonoran desert and the Mojave desert. Phoenix and Tucson are part of the Sonoran desert. Unfortunately, many new housing developments occur right in the middle of desert tortoise habitat. In many cases, desert tortoises that are simply wandering about their lifelong home are found by well-meaning citizens and turned in to wildlife rehabilitation centers as lost pets. There are probably even more desert tortoises that are truly lost pets, ones that may have meandered through an open gate into a neighborhood alley or been lifted out of a backyard by someone who had second thoughts about bringing home their new pet. Wildlife officials are unable to return these lost pets to the wild even if they knew exactly where a desert tortoise once lived. For one thing, there is no sure way to know that a desert tortoise that spent time in human care was not exposed to a disease that could prove deadly if
