When wildlife becomes a backyard resident
Arizona’s backyard tortoise dilemma is helping researchers study human-wildlife relationships
For College of Integrative Sciences and Arts graduate student Meg Davis, Sonoran Desert tortoises are a window into a much bigger question: What happens when humans and wildlife share the same space?
That question is at the heart of Davis’ thesis research, which she’s doing in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) as she pursues her master’s degree in applied biological sciences with oversight from Heather Bateman, CISA associate dean for graduate studies and research and a professor in the School of Applied Sciences and Arts.
Davis and Bateman are examining why people choose to care for tortoises, what challenges can make that care difficult and what factors may ultimately lead someone to surrender an animal. The answers could help improve tortoise adoptions in Arizona and give researchers a better understanding of the social side of wildlife conservation.
The question is particularly important because Sonoran Desert tortoises occupy an unusual space in Arizona: They may live in backyards, but they’re still wildlife.
Why tortoise care is more complicated than it seems
Sonoran Desert tortoises have been protected in Arizona since the 1980s. AZGFD manages them as wildlife, even when they’re living with human caretakers. That comes with a very different set of challenges than the typical household pet.
For one, these tortoises can live for several decades, even up to 70 years, potentially outliving their caretakers. A move, a change in living circumstances or becoming unable to provide adequate care can leave someone looking for a new home for an animal with complex needs.
Each year, AZGFD adopts out hundreds of tortoises that are surrendered to the department — the only legal way for prospective caretakers to adopt a tortoise in Arizona. Despite what the law says, it’s not uncommon for tortoise caretakers to cross paths with them in other ways: inheriting them from family, having one wander into the yard or adopting from a friend. Tortoises also can’t simply be released back into the desert: Captive animals may carry diseases that could threaten wild populations, and researchers may not know enough about an individual tortoise’s genetic origins to determine where it could safely be returned.
Then, there are the realities of tortoise care. For example, caretakers may need to build above-ground artificial burrows and protect tortoises from hazards like backyard flooding, swimming pools and other pets. Accidental breeding can also produce hatchlings that need homes of their own.
“There’s a widespread perception that reptiles and amphibians are ‘easy’ pets, but that’s far from the case,” said Bateman, who herself is a tortoise caretaker. “Tortoises are sometimes loved to the point of it being a problem.”
From ‘creepy crawlies’ to backyard tortoises
For Davis, the project builds on a long-standing fascination with animals that people don’t always understand.
As an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Davis interned at a wildlife rehabilitation center, where she encountered animals that had been injured or couldn’t be returned to the wild. She later created a summer camp for kids about “creepy crawlies” — species people might find scary, but that play important roles.
That experience sparked an interest in human-wildlife relationships. At ASU, she found a mentor in Bateman, whose research examines how people live alongside wildlife, particularly species that tend to be misunderstood or overlooked.
“The ultimate big picture for me with studying wildlife and people — which is very different from just studying wildlife — is coexistence,” Bateman said. “We all share this planet, and it’s important to understand the needs of both. How can we minimize our impact on wildlife? How can we foster appreciation?”
What makes a successful tortoise caretaker?
To start answering that question, Davis launched a statewide survey of tortoise caretakers in June 2026 in collaboration with Kelli Larson, a professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning as well as the School of Sustainability.
The roughly 40-question form asks people why they adopted tortoises, how confident they feel about their care, what challenges they face and what circumstances could make surrender more likely. The goal is to identify patterns that could eventually help researchers and wildlife managers understand where caretakers may need additional information or support.
The response to the survey was immediate — and across thousands of submissions, one theme was quite clear: People really, really love their tortoises.
But amid that affection, early review of responses revealed a persistent challenge: health care. Davis said respondents frequently mentioned difficulty finding veterinary care, while a question about knowledge of tortoise health found that recognizing signs of illness was an area where caretakers felt least confident.
That opened another avenue for the research.
Bridging the tortoise health care gap
The survey asked caretakers whether they would be interested in bringing their tortoise to ASU for a free health screening.
For those who participate, Molly Bechtel, a disease ecologist and assistant professor in the School of Applied Sciences and Arts, will conduct health assessments and collect samples from the tortoises — something she has already been doing with tortoises at AZGFD. She’ll look for signs of disease, such as eye or nasal discharge, lethargy and poor body condition, while collecting swabs from the nose, mouth, skin and cloaca to test for pathogens and characterize the microbes living on the animals.
Bechtel is particularly interested in understanding how differences in temperature and habitat may affect tortoise health. Some tortoises live in simple backyard shelters, while others have more elaborate burrows, and temperatures can vary across the Valley.
“This data will not only help us better understand how wild animals adapt to captivity, but in the future, it could potentially provide biomarkers that allow for releases of captive tortoises,” Bechtel said. “While our wild tortoise populations are declining, our captive tortoise populations are exploding. From a conservation standpoint, this could help.
A foundation for the next generation of tortoise research
For Davis, the immediate goal is to help answer a practical question: Can researchers identify circumstances that make someone more likely to surrender a tortoise and then use that information to help prevent those surrenders?
In addition to immediate surrender prevention goals, Davis sees the project as a starting point for others. When she searched the existing scientific literature, she identified only one previous caretaker survey, published decades ago. She hopes her work can give future researchers a foundation to build on.
Her larger interest remains the same one that brought her to ASU: understanding conservation through the lens of human-wildlife interactions.
“Without people, there is no conservation,” Davis said.
