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Cota, Melanie
Michael Burroughs; Roy Averill-Murray; Kimberleigh Field
Mark Slaughter
Fwd: [BLM Objectionable Words] Silver State South Tortoise Mortality Report SS1149
Thursday, April 02, 2015 1:49:43 PM
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SS_MORT_20150331.pdf

FYI on mortality of SS1149 at Silver State South Project.

---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Greg Berthelot <Greg.Berthelot@firstsolar.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 1, 2015 at 5:07 PM
Subject: [BLM Objectionable Words] Silver State South Tortoise Mortality Report SS1149
To: "mcota@blm.gov" <mcota@blm.gov>, "Mark Slaughter (mslaught@blm.gov)"
<mslaught@blm.gov>
Cc: "cbedwell@ironwoodbio.com" <cbedwell@ironwoodbio.com>, John Wasserburger
<JWasserburger@firstsolar.com>, Ronnie Fast <Ronnie.Fast@firstsolar.com>, Grant Shafer
<Grant.Shafer@firstsolar.com>, Jesse Arias <Jesse.Arias@firstsolar.com>, Steven Borst
<Steven.Borst@firstsolar.com>

SS1149 Mortality Report

Silver State Tortoise SS1149 was found dead at approx. 1145 March 31 205 by Ironwood
radio tracker Kelly Hunt and was located 800 meters offsite towards the Lucy Gray
Mountains. This 251mm translocatee was on its carapace and had expired within hours prior
to discovery. The cloaca had been damaged and was bloodied, blood had collected in the
hind leg openings and had pooled on the ground below the posterior of the tortoise. About 1
meter from the carcass was the detached phallus of the tortoise. The tortoise appeared to be
in good health with a BCS of 5, determined post mortem.
A few small chew gnashes were present on the gular, and anal scutes, these were probably
canid or raven.
The carcass was located on gravelly soil, and no tracks or prints were observable in the
vicinity of the tortoise.
The most likely cause of death seems to be a combination of hyperthermia and predator
damage, probably raven.

History of the tortoise includes:

Initial location and transmitter on 13 Aug 2014
Translocated off Silver State South 18 Sep 2014

Overwintered in burrow 7019, first seen active for the year 09 Mar 2015
Last seen alive on 23 Mar 2015.

A map of the location is begin generated by Ironwood and will be sent in a separate email.

Please let me know if you require any additional information.

Respectfully

Gregory W. Berthelot
Regional Site Compliance Manager
Phone 480-395-0024

Greg.berthelot@firstsolar.com

-Melanie Cota
Wildlife Biologist
BLM Southern Nevada District
Pahrump Field Office/RECO
4701 North Torrey Pines Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89130
Office: 702-515-5233
Fax: 702-515-5155
mcota@blm.gov
It is the mission of the Bureau of Land Management to sustain the health, diversity, and
productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Tortoise Mortality Form

Date:

Tortoise lD:

Sex:
MCL:

Time Since Death:

$E-

BulAu

up,,snt

overturned

l-lo,"rrgnawmarks

tn*..n

I-l Preoator tracks/sign

f ururto"k tracks/sign
[u"n,",. iracks/road

OurieO

Left foreleg

Describe evidence found

l7lo,n",.

sun, SO
Partial
Entire

Head

l-le ,n,not

of day carcass is exposed to

Parts Present:

NAD83 Zonel

wounds

unoer snrun

eartiatty

Evidence of Cause of Death:

f surieo
I-lo, tortoise coversite
f]ot predatorsite
l-lo, rencerine
o/o

l-l

f]ernrtrre

Silver State

Qa
i\

Position of Remains:

[Xloo"n

Camera Owner:

w
HI

Freldworker:

bsu,ia-l

Location of Remains:

f
f

Project Stoteline

Please draw in evidence of trauma, disease, etc:

t]K
EK
TE

EK

tr

None

tr
tr

trK
r
Em
r
EE tr

Right foreleg

Lefl hindleg
Right hindleg
Pectoral girdle
Pelvic girdle

% Scutes present:

160

Ipo

% Bones present:

Suspected Cause of Death:

canio:

J-l

eagre:

n
nnts: I

Crusheo

Explain reasoninq for cause of death:

Hynerthermia:
Dead on

Carapace:

ffi
f

ffi
unmown f

naventRaptor:

Ar-,rtul-,\ t*-r5 D'$<rfu, ctaa\

nO

c-&--r\r

d
(oi.rtn3 \ a *,r3vt>
z{\+ tD\jrt1

hqper-'S<rr'*-ri ct-.

,fJH F*=,

PLEASE TAKE A MINIMUM oF 3 PHoToS

THE PHOTOS WITH THIS DATASHEET AFTER FILLING IN
TORT ID, UTMS AND DATE

Ea:*'*-dlo+5

6/10/201.4

LD,i.lrt

{r4- c)o-n',a.qL O:M4r(.J'e.C.

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KjOer'*{n

{runrl i ,^,r o-dd4, nioo}*

n"tta- pvoDa-b\

c6,

@Mo, ft{a"v'
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