SAN BERNARDINO (AP) — A massive solar project in San Bernardino County could displace as many as 140 rare desert tortoises, far more than the developer’s original estimates.

At least 43 protected tortoises have been moved from the site of BrightSource Energy Co.’s $2 billion project on public land in Ivanpah Valley.

Larry LaPre, a wildlife biologist for the Bureau of Land Management, says an estimated 101 more tortoises are still living on the 5.6-square-mile site and have not yet been moved.

This is a far cry from the original estimates of 32 adult and 35 juvenile tortoises on the site, numbers based on company-commissioned surveys in 2007 and 2009. A spokesman for the company says their studies reflected the best assessment of tortoise habitat available at the time.

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