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On July 10th, 2025, Erwin National Fish Hatchery Project Leader Tyler Hern was asked a strange question. "Would the hatchery be able to take in a gopher tortoise that was found in east Tennessee?" East Tennessee is a long way from home for gopher tortoises. These creatures live in sandy long leaf pine forests in southern states such as Georgia, Florida, and Mississippi. The Tennessee mountains are a different ecosystem than the tortoise's native habitat.
What are Gopher Tortoises?
Gopher tortoises are an imperiled tortoise species that occur in southern long leaf pine forests. This species can live around 50 years in the wild, and can grow to be over 100 years old in captivity! The tortoises live in burrows that they dig, which create habitat for a wide variety of other species. They are herbivorous, and eat diets consisting of grasses, sedges, leaves, flowers, berries, and other fruit.
The Journey to Erwin National Fish Hatchery
This gopher tortoise was found by a good Samaritan while attempting to cross the road near Kingsport, Tennessee. The tortoise had some old injuries, so the person brought the tortoise to the nearby Bays Mountain Park, which has a nature center that holds native wildlife from Tennessee. Staff at Bays Mountain quickly realized that this was a non-native imperiled tortoise, and contacted the US Fish and Wildlife Service to find somebody permitted to hold the tortoise.
Hatchery staff worked quickly to create an enclosure for the tortoise, and to make sure that they had everything necessary to properly take care of her. Upon her arrival to the hatchery, she was welcomed into her new home with fresh water to drink, sand to dig around in, and plenty of leafy greens to eat. Hatchery staff named her Arlee. Her favorite activities at the hatchery are relaxing in her new home and spending time outside in the warm summer sun. Arlee will remain at Erwin National Fish Hatchery until we are able to find her forever home somewhere further south!
