The Texas tortoise (Gopherus berlandieri) occurs in the southern portion of Texas and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas. Currently it is listed as Threatened by the state of Texas and the country of Mexico. Most published studies have focused on Texas tortoise ecology, demography, behavior, and habitat connectivity. Presently, there is concern that road mortalities contribute to Texas tortoise population decline, yet there has been limited research on Texas tortoise interactions with roads. In Cameron County, Texas, road mortality surveys have been conducted for a broad range of species since 2015. This county has undergone extensive development in conjunction with an increasing human population and over 120 Texas tortoise road mortalities have been recorded along two state highways and two farm to market roads since monitoring began. Two of these roads were improved with wildlife crossing structures, fencing, and other mitigation features specifically aimed at preventing road mortalities of federally endangered ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), but mitigation may impact the Texas tortoise as well. The mitigation features on these two roads were monitored with wildlife cameras, which have captured over 100 tortoise interactions since 2018. Although tortoises have been documented using crossing structures, research is needed to determine if there are hotspot locations of tortoise road mortalities, and if so, where such hotspots are in relation to road mitigation features. By combining the existing road mortality and camera survey datasets, we can improve our understanding of Texas tortoise interactions with roads and potentially contribute to their conservation.
