Did you know that CuriOdyssey is home to a variety of “threatened” species? If you’ve ever seen Antiguo walking around the exhibit he shares with the Burrowing Owls, or if you’ve ever seen Spork messily chomping his favorite snack (nasturtiums!) during an enrichment session, then you’ve seen just one of the threatened species we care for – the California Desert Tortoise.

But how did the Desert Tortoise become “threatened”? And what does that really mean? Threatened species are animals that are vulnerable to becoming endangered in the near future. Habitat destruction, pet trade, disease, and automobiles have hurt the Desert Tortoise population. It may be hard to believe, but some people use Desert Tortoises as target practice or deliberately tip them on their backs, rendering them helpless.

To aid in keeping the Desert Tortoise in its natural habitat, a law was passed in 1974 that made collecting wild tortoises illegal. To help preserve the species, the Bureau of Land Management has established a sanctuary in California as the Desert Tortoise Natural Area.

To further aid in the survival of this and other threatened animals, we make it a priority to teach children about how they can help protect animals (like our loveable Spork and Antiguo – just to name a few!). Our animal keepers and educators do this through school programs like the “Animals in Jeopardy” class that teaches children about threatened, endangered and extinct animals and what they can do to protect them. We also educate visitors about threatened species through enrichment activities we do here at the museum. Through programs like these, we hope to nurture respect and admiration for everything that lives in this amazing natural world of ours.

[Photo by Graham Paterson]