Young, Wild Desert Tortoises Lead Solitary Lives

Abstract

Abstract. – In the wild, prereproductive Agassiz's Desert Tortoises rarely co-occur in burrows, which we determined by tracking 83 head-started and translocated juvenile and immature tortoises with radio transmitters at least once per month between 2013 and 2022. We observed only 2 instances of co-occurrence at burrows out of 4622 locations; 594 of these locations were at burrows often used repeatedly during temperature extremes in summer and late fall and winter. One occurrence was brief and defensive, and the other transitory cohabitation.