On Friday, April 10, the Troy University Naturalist Club will present Gopher Tortoise Day at the Troy University Arboretum, a family-fun event designed to teach students about gopher tortoises and their environmental significance. 

Sponsored by the Gopher Tortoise Day Grant from the Gopher Tortoise Council (GTC), the event will feature face painting, an interactive gopher tortoise burrow, a design-your-own gopher tortoise craft and a gopher tortoise fact game. Additionally, children will receive a packet containing gopher tortoise facts, a word search and more. 

“The goal of Gopher Tortoise Day is to increase awareness and appreciation for the only species of tortoise east of the Mississippi River,” said Sydney Bernard, graduate student and one of the event’s organizers. “It is a threatened species in the state of Alabama. Factors such as habitat loss, forestry practices, disease, the pet trade and human consumption have caused an 80 percent decline in this species over the last century.”

April 10 has been officially adopted by the GTC as Gopher Tortoise Day. Bernard, along with Dr. Alvin Diamond, biology professor and Arboretum director, and fellow graduate students Fisher Parrish and Adele Crabtree, was awarded the Gopher Tortoise Day Grant from the GTC to help bring awareness to the species. 

“Gopher tortoises are a keystone species, meaning that many other species in their native ecosystems rely on them. This is because at least 350 other species use the burrows they build, including snakes, frogs, mice and other invertebrates and rodents,” Bernard said. “Gopher tortoises are present in Pike County, specifically at the Pocosin Nature Preserve. We hope to educate the local community about this species that is so crucial to the environment that surrounds us.”

The Montgomery Zoo will also be present with Desoto the Gopher Tortoise and other live animals. The event lasts from 3-6 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

For more information about the Troy University Arboretum, visit here.