09/02/2026
We are exactly TWO WEEKS away from , our biggest fundraiser of the year, and today we want to highlight one of the most important species we care for: Florida’s only native tortoise, the Gopher Tortoise.
So far this year, we have received more than 60 gopher tortoises for rehabilitation. They have arrived for a variety of reasons, from dog attacks, to being hit by cars, to illness and other injuries. Each was an animal that otherwise may never have made it home.
While Florida Fish and Wildlife currently classifies the gopher tortoise as a state-designated threatened species, new information from independent sources paint an even more concerning picture. Earlier this year, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed the gopher tortoise as Critically Endangered, citing an estimated decline of at least 80% over the past three generations and projecting a decline of more than 95% over the next three generations .
Even if you have gopher tortoises living in your yard or regularly see “plenty” of them, your personal experience is too small a sample size to accurately represent the overall population or the very real threats this species is facing. Critically Endangered is the highest level of threat before a species reaches extinction in the wild. This isn't a problem that belongs to some distant future. This is happening now.
Gopher tortoises are a keystone species. Their burrows provide shelter for more than 360 other species, meaning protecting a single tortoise can have an impact beyond that one animal.
Our work is more critical now than ever. It’s about protecting a species already facing enormous pressure from habitat loss, development, roads, disease, predators, and human-wildlife conflict. With gopher tortoise populations declining so dramatically, every individual tortoise we can save, rehabilitate, and return to the wild matters.
We need your help to keep doing it.
ROW is a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit. We do not receive government funding to operate. Our ability to rescue, rehabilitate, and release Florida's wildlife is made possible entirely through private donations.
Every year, hundreds of wild animals come through our doors. They all need specialty diets, medication, veterinary care, species-specific enclosures, supplies, and countless hours of hands-on care before they can return to the wild. is our biggest opportunity each year to make sure we can continue saying YES when the next animal needs us.
Two weeks from today, we are asking our community to stand behind Florida's wildlife and . Join us on September 15th and 16th as we work towards our fundraising goal of $15,000 in 33 hours. Be a hero for the next animal at our doorstep.
