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Tortoises buried alive by builders prompt outcry among S. Florida residents
By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted September 9 2005
Florida residents have expressed horror at the state's practice of allowing developers to bury gopher tortoises alive in the course of building houses, schools and strip malls.
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The South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently reported that the wildlife commission has issued permits allowing developers to kill an estimated 67,000 to 71,000 gopher tortoises since 1991. While some were relocated or survived the work, those that were buried may have taken months to die because of their slow metabolism, according to biologists with the wildlife commission.
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In exchange for permits to kill the tortoises, developers were required to pay for the protection of gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere.
In planning a new store in Lake Park in northern Palm Beach County, for example, Wal-Mart recently obtained a permit to kill five gopher tortoises, in exchange for paying $11,409 to buy and protect 1.49 acres of habitat. Other developers, including Centex Homes Inc. and DiVosta and Co., received permits in the past few years to kill gopher tortoises while building housing developments in Palm Beach County.
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More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... rida/sfl...
By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
Posted September 9 2005
Florida residents have expressed horror at the state's practice of allowing developers to bury gopher tortoises alive in the course of building houses, schools and strip malls.
----snip
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel recently reported that the wildlife commission has issued permits allowing developers to kill an estimated 67,000 to 71,000 gopher tortoises since 1991. While some were relocated or survived the work, those that were buried may have taken months to die because of their slow metabolism, according to biologists with the wildlife commission.
----snip
In exchange for permits to kill the tortoises, developers were required to pay for the protection of gopher tortoise habitat elsewhere.
In planning a new store in Lake Park in northern Palm Beach County, for example, Wal-Mart recently obtained a permit to kill five gopher tortoises, in exchange for paying $11,409 to buy and protect 1.49 acres of habitat. Other developers, including Centex Homes Inc. and DiVosta and Co., received permits in the past few years to kill gopher tortoises while building housing developments in Palm Beach County.
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More:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... rida/sfl...
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