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Wendy Cassidy, desert tortoise program director for the Phoenix Herpetological Society, gets up close to a then 30-year-old male Sonoran desert tortoise in Scottsdale, Ariz., on July 31, 2012. Federal officials concluded that Sonoran desert tortoises native to Arizona have a relatively stable population that doesn't need protection from environmental threats. Conservation groups say they're still not convinced the reptiles' well-being is a sure thing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, that the tortoise doesn't warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. (Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic via AP, File)

Wendy Cassidy, desert tortoise program director for the Phoenix Herpetological Society, gets up close to a then 30-year-old male Sonoran desert tortoise in Scottsdale, Ariz., on July 31, 2012. Federal officials concluded that Sonoran desert tortoises native to Arizona have a relatively stable population that doesn't need protection from environmental threats. Conservation groups say they're still not convinced the reptiles' well-being is a sure thing. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, that the tortoise doesn't warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. (Tom Tingle/The Arizona Republic via AP, File)

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