Tortoises have claws for burrowing, not fins like sea turtles have, and are not streamlined like a turtle or the terrapin, which has characteristics of both a turtle and a tortoise. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is asking people to please not put tortoises in the water. Tortoises are not equipped to swim, and they can easily drown.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, there were three cases of people trying to help gopher tortoise hatchlings get to the ocean last month. Gopher tortoises nest in dunes near sea turtle beaches, which can cause some confusion.
Gopher tortoises are considered threatened, and the keystone species is protected by state law, according to FWC. The FWC has information for people living near the gopher tortoise's natural habitat, like what shrubbery the tortoises like to eat, what permits you need to build and what to do should you come across a slow tortoise in the road.
Tortoises have hard shells and can retract their heads completely into their shells, which is a good thing for this leopard tortoise who seems to be, for these lion cubs, a proper substitute for a ball of yarn:
