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The battle to save Twentynine Palms’ desert tortoises

A desert tortoise munches on broccoli at the Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility in Twentynine Palms, a partnership between the Marine Corps and UCLA designed to protect the endangered species.

A desert tortoise munches on broccoli at the Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility in Twentynine Palms, a partnership between the Marine Corps and UCLA designed to protect the endangered species.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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The hatchlings at the Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility in Twentynine Palms have big guns on their side: The Marine Corps.

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The Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility aims to reverse the decline of the desert tortoise in Twentynine Palms by hatching baby tortoises in a protected facility away from natural and man-made predators.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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About 500 hatchlings live in the five-acre facility, kept from predators by wire and netting.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Biologists call the young tortoises “walking ravioli” because of their small size, easy pickings for hungry ravens.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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“If you don¿t start somewhere, you’ll never get where you want,” said Marie Cottrell, natural and cultural resources officer for the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, of the preservation effort.  (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Marie Cottrell and ecologist Brian Henen keep an eye on the enclosings at the Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Capt. Nicholas Mannweiler, left, and Lance Cpl. Lauren Kurkimilis film two desert tortoises at the Desert Tortoise Head-Start Facility. Marines who train at Twentynine Palms are given notice about the tortoise’s protected status and urged to do their part to save the reptile from extinction.   (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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