The purpose of this contract is multifold. First, when and where tortoises are located above ground or removed from cover sites, the Contractor shall gather standard demographic and health data on physical location, size-age classes, shell-wear/aging classes, clinical signs of health and trauma, sex, shell-skeletal remains, and causes of death as described herein. Standardized techniques, developed over the last 45 years, shall be used, as well as new methodologies described in brief herein. Second, ill and moribund tortoises with shell lesions, disease, and/or trauma that may qualify for salvage shall be identified. Shell-skeletal remains shall be collected and processed according to a protocol, with digital photographs taken. Third, selected databases from the 2025 field data shall be prepared.
