The GateHouse Ohio Media article “Tortoise reunited with owner after 13-day search” in Wednesday’s Dispatch was a familiar type of lost-and-found pet story. However, in this case the animal is not your typical domesticated pet. 

California desert tortoises are endangered throughout their range in the Mojave Desert and protected by both the federal and California state endangered species acts. It is illegal to touch, disturb, or collect desert tortoises in California. 

Tortoises that have been captive for a long time, found wandering in a city street, bred in captivity, or obtained through adoption, can be kept legally by applying for a permit from the state of California. 

The article did not clarify whether Otis (the tortoise) was a wild desert tortoise, or whether Kathie Heisinger obtained a permit before taking Otis from California to northeastern Ohio. 

The California desert tortoise has several natural- and human-caused threats to its survival in the wild. Human-interest stories that portray the tortoise as a pet that can be moved thousands of miles from its natural habitat don’t aid in the species’ survival. 

John Heywood