California declared mojave desert tortoise endangered!

[Megatron's Mom]

disease could be one reason , captive to wild is risky........ they had a problem with western pond turtles they may attribute to "head start" programs ..... a particular kind of shell fungus seen only in captive turtles has been found in wild western pond turtles.....

That would make sense.

 

[Oxalis]

People act like the Desert is an empty void lacking any life and always say "Nobody uses the Desert and no one cares about the Desert."

That always confuses me too. I'm sure there are plenty of misconceptions about every ecosystem, but I think deserts top the list.