Protecting the desert tortoise. Marine Corps air ground combat center

The desert tortoise is one of many animals that call the Combat Center home. They are also the only species aboard the installation listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The Tortoise Research and Captive Rearing Site helps bolster the local population of the desert tortoise with head starting. Head starting involves bringing in pregnant tortoises, allowing them to lay their eggs in the facility and then safe guarding the hatchlings until they are large enough to fend off predation and can better withstand the harsh desert elements. If the population of the desert tortoise declines, the species could become listed as endangered. This could compromise Marines’ ability to train aboard the Combat Center. TRACRS contains their head starting site to one part of the base, helping to keep the population out of training areas. The implementation of programs such as TRACRS is the Combat Center’s way of protecting and growing the population of the threatened species which in turn allows the Marine Corps to continue training operations aboard its premier pre-deployment training facility.