Visitors Asked to Be on the Lookout for Desert Tortoises on Roadways

Date: July 6, 2015
Contact: George Land, 760-367-5507

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA—With an early monsoon season upon us, visitors may be seeing desert tortoises on the roadways as they search out puddles from which to drink. Because of their presence on the roads, tortoises are extremely vulnerable to being hit by cars. In order to educate the public, the park has produced a video on when and how to safely move a tortoise out of the road. Keep in mind that tortoises should only be handled in emergency situations. Watch the video online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmLfI_yAERY.

This video also marks the official launch of the park's new YouTube channel. There are already several videos uploaded and the park intends to continue to create more. Visitors to the site are encouraged to subscribe to the park channel and receive updates when new content is posted. The URL for the park's channel is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8zJBSL6Hm7lGp-bZ9u1ZZw

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