Nearly 7,000 gopher tortoises moved in 5 years across Lake, Orange counties. Where did they go?

Butterflies move between flowers as wind chimes ring through the trees at the Trout Lake Nature Center.Nearby, a three-legged gopher tortoise named Tripod slowly eats lettuce and berries.The peaceful scene hides the injury that changed his life.“He got tangled up on litter in the woods,” Trout Lake Nature Center Executive Director Eileen Tramontana said. “It cut off his blood circulation and got infected, and they had to amputate it.”Because a gopher tortoise needs its powerful front legs to dig a burrow, Tripod can no longer survive independently in the wild. The nature center now uses him to teach visitors about the threats facing the species.His story is one highly visible example of a much larger issue unfolding across Central Florida.New data provided to News 6 by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows 6,976 gopher tortoises were confirmed relocated in Lake and Orange counties between July 28, 2021, and July 28, 2026.Nearly all of them were moved off the prope