It's such a sad situation when our government sticks its nose in where obviously it doesn't belong but you'll see road side zoos with animals looking horrid and they never do a thing!! I commend this gentleman for keeping the breed alive, just like he says it's nice to have ambassador animals to bring the gen public's awareness to the plight of the ones in the wild. I think they are gorgeous!
Of course Fish and Game would wrongfully take someone's animals. Ugh. Glad he got them back and I hope the person he's talking about can get their male back!
This guy is my hero! Why does our government think they can treat people like this? And then they knew that what they did was illegal by giving the torts back if he would sue? Pathetic.
I'd rather not judge as we're lacking details from the other side. Seems like a big waste of money and time on their part though when what they did amounted to taking a bunch of large animals and feeding and housing them for a year. One would think if they went to so much trouble they must have thought they had good reason to.
@@Ryodraconot necessarily. they might have just wanted to shut him down. No charges ever materialized. Probable cause for a warrant is not that high a bar, and agencies usually keep evidence seized until its sold at profit - look up civil asset forfeiture. They probably were not planning on selling these tortoises, but just because they seized them doesn’t necessarily mean they had clear evidence of wrongdoing, just they managed to convince a judge to let them go fishing.
I’m not understanding why they seized the tortoises in the first place. If they are endangered, looks like the gov would be protecting them and even issuing grants to promote their breeding, etc. How can they let Tiger King and ppl with dangerous animals raise, breed, sell deadly animals that aren’t endangered, but confiscate this man’s tortoises? No one has been attacked and killed by a tortoise (that I know if), but I’ve seen several shows about ppl being killed by lions, tigers, monkeys, hyenas, etc. that owners turn loose or fail to contain.
Unfortunately, as time passes, regulations become even stricter and the state intervenes much more in our hobby. I hope that his breathing operations go well into the future.
who in their right mind would seize all of those beautiful tortoises from this man he is doing the world and this species an amazing service!! I would take that WAY PAST PERSONAL, THATS BEYOND ANYTHING I CAN EVEN DESCRIBE. Thats straight up way past theft. I would literally not get out of that situation alive. Take my passion Ill fight you until I die because Im nothing without them. Thats my take on it . Something about the sheer beauty of these largescale tortoises makes me cry every time I see them. Seriously I am so in awe of them. So much respect to them and to this man for helping them breed thank you so much.
Mind blowing. The man is a legend in the tortoise world and Fish & Wildlife go and confiscate all of his Galaps, what on earth!? I'm glad he got them back. So sad to see such depressing behavior from Fish & Wildlife. #RattleOn
Awesome animals. As you pet the neck of an animal most of us will never be able to, "For people that don't know, their skin feels almost like elephant skin." Ohhhhh ok, cuz we have a better chance of knowing what elephant skin feels like LMAO Love you brother!!!
Galapagos tortoises are truly amazing personality filled ancient dudes 😍😎 I have had the privilege of working with these gorgeous guys and they are amazing! Thanks for the awesome video 🤓🤓
Dude this is amazing , and I really appreciate people like him that want to preserve a species and obtain stability in wildlife for our future ... now we have to get paid from the government rather then scolded to release some of these bad mama jamas to keep population up , all we have to do is make sure they are acclimated and treated to be released , I’m sure easier said then done , but recently this is what I am all about and want to help also , I’m trying to figure out just what it’s gonna be... I really thought I was first to like this btw lmao 😂
Because you're breeding them in captivity. They won't be able to survive in the wild if they've been raised like that. This is essentially commercial farming for profit, the man in this video is clearly a breeder. At least zoos have the goal to educate the public through conservation and breeding but this man is just rearing them to be sold as exotic pets. Baby tortoises hatch and immediately live on their own, they learn from their surroundings and experiences, what they learn from a caged environment won't help them in the wild.
laws often don’t make sense. The intent of the law is assuredly to discourage poaching, because if you allow captive breeding a poacher could steal a gravid female, hatch the eggs, and then sell them as captive bred. This in fact happens all the time with other species. That being said, there are better ways to prevent things like that, but policy makers don’t usually have the expertise to know the best way to do things, so instead you get these broad laws that maybe make sense in some circumstances, but not in others, and punish innocent actors just trying to preserve an endangered species.
@@starsfalldown1234567even if all that were true - and I feel like you are grossly misreading this man who is clearly doing this as a passion and probably doesn’t make much from it since sales are so legally restricted on Galops - they’d probably do just fine in the wild. Galopagos tortoises have no natural predators. You plop one of the adults down on the islands they’re just gonna start munching cactuses. But even if you say, no, there are key lessons they are missing by being raised in someone’s yard in Arizona - then plop down the babies right after hatching. Problem solved. But even apart from that, he is raising these NOT to be reintroduced into the wild, but to preserve the species that might go extinct in the wild in captivity, so future generations will know what they were like. There is value in preserving endangered species in captivity even if they are not directly being used to bolster wild populations, so that people can see and learn about these animals, especially if they do gone extinct in the wild, which they might. Now, you might say, thats what zoos are for. But if you watch the video, you’d know that zoos are only hatching females, and, moreover, many zoos have issues breeding these. Lonesome George went extinct because the zoos couldn’t get him to breed. Having more people preserve them is better. More bloodlines, more breeding stock, you have a healthier population with less inbreeding depression and less risk of extinction. This man is doing very good things.
LOVE the giant chelonians. By far my absolute favorite reptile and one I could definitely dedicate my life to if my circumstances were different. Jerry is amazing for keeping with the breeding of these gentle giants even though the government can be such asshats at times. Sucks it took a year to get his tortoises back from the seizure, but I'm glad he kept at it and fought for them! As for a name, even though the male is on loan, he should call it Sherman because it's built like a tank.
One thing i loved about this oldman that he's talking care of all these tortoises from his heart and not treating them like comodites and emotionally attached to them. I wish everyone who have pets treat them like this .💕
I suggest them to be named Tonka, Tank, Tanky, Bowser, Bower, Blue Shell, BlueShell, Yoshi, Gianty, Galapagy, Durable, Reliable, Bulletproof, Toyota, Honda, Corolla, Civic, Camry, Accord, Tacoma, Indestructible, Sienna98, Sienna01, Sienna03, SafeSienna, or BestSienna.
So who is buying the tortoises? There aren’t that many people that can handle these guys for the long haul. Kind of like people that buy young retics and then have buyers remorse once they get big. This guy is amazing and obviously takes excellent care of his animals. Unfortunately, oI think he is definitely in the minority.
Well back in Sept of 15 I went to Jerry's place to buy a 125.00 leopard....2 hours later and a home equity check I came back with 2 galaps.....4 years later I finally got my leopard...
@@averagejoegrows Yeah, that's what I thought, too...but he never even named that one that was one of the first hatchlings that he's had for twenty-five years.
the hard part of owning one is being a young adult with college debt lol. i cant afford a galapagos hatchling for $5k+ AND a property with a yard.. hopefully one day i can :)
That's def a man lol no woman could have an animal for that long & not give it a name lol we baby everything 🤣 when he said " love hurts" lmfao damn thats alot s breeding wben you still have marks left behind
They sure are amazing Tortoises and l certainly wonder if l had them who would continue to care for them after l am gone. l have some snakes that may out live me and l hope that my grandson will do this for me.
If the person really wants a galap they can travel to the state and pick them up. Then travel back to there state. Same thing people do with Indigo snakes, and other things the govt says we cant have/do.
yes you can! check with your state laws because some states do require a license in order to have Galops. and that also can run you a few thousand... I have 3 baby aldabra tortoises. theyre very similar to galops and dont require licensing in most states! still cost $2000+
they cannot be sold across state lines without a permit, so the answer is yes, IF you live in a state somewhere where someone owns and breeds them. I know there are people in California, Florida, and, obviously, Arizona who have them, but if you’re in another state, you’re probably SOL. As mentioned, you can get a permit to sell across state lines, but they aren’t easy to get.
Thems be my dream tortoise babies! I absolutely adore those guys. One of my favorite earliest interactions, there's nothing quite like them! 🥰 PS- If the grandkids don't come through, give me a ring, email, or send smoke signals, and I'll be there in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail!
That one tortoise shown in the background while Jerry was speaking about 10 min into the video really gives us a chance to see how big these guys really are.
Hi super video. I'm trying to learn the difference between Galopogas, Salcato and Aldaras. Which one would stand taller? I have a wild one on my property and wanting to identify him /her. Also concerned about scaring it away. Thanks Kira
If I’m not mistaken, the Galapagos is the largest of the three, followed by the Aldabra and then lastly, the Sulcata. I hope this helps even though your comment is a month old!
