NEW ORLEANS - The Audubon Zoo recently made significant progress towards releasing two of their tortoises back home into the wild.

The two male gopher tortoises spent the winter with zoo medical staff after being found outside of their native range. In collaboration with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the zoo's hospital team spent the last several months caring for them until the weather was warm enough to release them back into the wild. 

On Monday, the Audubon Zoo announced that the tortoises are now living in temporary "soft release pens" built by biologists at a protected wildlife management area. They will spend the next few weeks being monitored by the zoo and LDWF. Once the tortoises are acclimated to their new surroundings, their pens will be removed and they will be fully free once again. 

Gopher tortoises are an important keystone species whose burrows provide homes for over 300 other animals, according to a Facebook post by the Audubon Zoo.