Click HERE for the latest news and announcements from the Gopher Tortoise Council, including:

• Letter from the Co-Chair
• GTC Announcements
• 2025 Annual Meeting Details
• Gopher Tortoise Day Spotlight: Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve and Kingsley Plantation by the National Parks Service
• Recent Research: 
  

  • Bednarik, N.M., R.B. Fedders, and B.B. Rothermel. 2025. Prevalence and extent of shell lesions in a wild population of young Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise) in Florida. Southeastern Naturalist https://doi.org/10.1656/058.024.0201

  •  Loope, K.J., R.A. Cozad, D.B. Breakfield, M.J. Aresco, and E.A. Hunter. 2025. Social composition of soft-release groups is correlated with survival of translocated gopher tortoises. Journal of Wildlife Management https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.70020

  •  Samuels, L.R.N., T. Wilcox, M. Hoffman, M. Elmore, R. Aldredge, B. Stegenga, J. E. Bogan Jr., M.A. Davis, S. Hertz, M.K. Schwartz, and H.C. Chandler. 2025. Comparison of camera traps, eDNA, and visual encounter surveys for threatened species detection. Journal for Nature Conservation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2025.126948

  •  Wisely, S.M., C. Torhorst, S. Botero-Cañola, N. Canino, A.M. James, and K. O'Hara. 2025. Contact between soft tick vectors of African swine fever virus and invasive wild pigs in the southeastern USA. Parasites & Vectors https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-025-06811-1