Egyptian Tortoise

 

True Wild Life | Egyptian Tortoise | The Egyptian Tortoise is the smallest land turtle in the Northern Hemisphere. The Egyptian Tortoise is a critically endangered neck-hiding tortoise. Once more widespread, its numbers are now dwindling. The species is extinct in Egypt, and global extinction is a looming threat unless more actions are taken to protect this species. They are on the brink of extinction due of habitat loss and because people capture them to make pets.

The Egyptian tortoises are herbivores, feeding on rough grasses, desert plants and fruit. They are most active during the warm periods of the year and least active during the months when it is very cold or very hot. During the cooler months, the tortoise is most active at midday. In the hot months, it is only active during the early morning or late afternoon and spends the rest of the day hiding in the cover of bushes or in rodent burrows.

Another unfortunate reality is the loss of habitat. Much of what used to be habitat for the Egyptian Tortoises has now become farmland or towns. Moreover, any remaining grassland has become a pasture for domestic livestock where many goats and sheep feed on the vegetation that used to be the tortoises' food. Many countries are cooperating to protect the Egyptian Tortoise, but many still believe their population will continue to drop further.

Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka)

True Wild Life | Ploughshare Tortoise (Angonoka) | The Angonoka or Ploughshare tortoise is one of the ten most endangered animals in the world. The Ploughshare Tortoise is a land tortoise that lives only on the island of Madagascar. They are considered the most threatened species of land tortoises because many of them have been captured to keep as pets, and because their habitat has been turned into farmland.

The Ploughshare Tortoise is characterized by a bump that looks like a shoehorn extending from its neck. This is actually part of the tortoises' shell on its stomach. Male tortoises will use this to flip over their opponent in a duel. The Ploughshare Tortoise is the most threatened species of land tortoises. One reason for this is their popularity as pets. Most tortoises retract into their shells to hide and protect themselves from their enemies. However, for hunters interested in selling them as pets, this instinct to hide and remain motionless in their shells at the sense of danger is a convenience because it makes them easier to catch. Many of the Ploughshare Tortoises have been captured to be sold as pets, thus reducing their population.

Environmental change also disturbs life for the Ploughshare Tortoise. Their habitats are disappearing due to frequent field burning in order to make pastures and fields. There has also been the emergence of a natural enemy that eats their eggs and hatchlings -- the bush pig. Originally, people brought the bush pig to the island from the African continent. Now, it has become a wild animal. Efforts to artificially breed and return the Ploughshare Tortoise to the wild are underway. However, this species grows at a very slow rate. it will take years for their numbers to increase because a Ploughshare Tortoise that has been released to the wild takes many years to bear children.

Pancake Tortoise

True Wild Life | Pancake Tortoise | Pancake tortoises are small and flat with a thin, flexible shell. The shell is normally 6 to 7 inches long and an inch or so high. On the legs, they have bigger scales with points that project downward and outward. Usually the shell has radiating dark lines on the carapace (upper part of the shell). The plastron (bottom part of shell) is also pale yellow but with dark brown seams and light yellow rays. Juveniles have pale yellow top shells with black seams and yellow rays. Some may have brown spots on their back. The carapace of juveniles is more domed than that of adults. Males can be distinguished from females by their larger and longer tails. However they are smaller than the females and have less distinctive patterns on their shell.

The pancake tortoise is adapted to fitting into tight crevices. Even larger individuals are less than 2 inches high. The shell is so thin and flexible that the plastron moves in and out when the animal breathes. Since the tortoise ould easily be torn apart by predators, it relies on its speed and flexibility to escape from dangerous situations. With the reduced weight of the shell, it can move much more quickly than other species.

It was once thought that it could puff its body up with air to wedge itself in place, but this has been found not to be true. Instead, it orients its spiky legs outward so that it is almost impossible to dislodge. Also this animal can also climb vertically. Because they are so light they can turn themselves over with ease if they fall on their backs.

In the wild breeding is in January-February with nesting in July-August.They lay eggs that are about two inches long. The eggs can incubated at about 30 degrees Celsius for 140 to 190 days. Combat between males prior to breeding can lead to better reproductive success.  In captivity breeding can be any time of the year. Captive animals can live 25 years and perhaps longer.

Burmese Starred Tortoise

 

True Wild Life | Burmese Starred Tortoise | The Burmese star tortoise (Geochelone platynota) is becoming extinct in its native Myanmar (Burma). Burmese Starred tortoises look like another land turtle called Indian Starred tortoise. But if you look closely, you will see the Burmese Starred Tortoise's shell is thinner and flatter than the Indian Starred tortoise.

Burmese Starred Tortoises are omnivorous as they eat both plants and animals. But we are still not sure what they eat in the wild. The Burmese Starred Tortoise sticks to his name. His shell's pattern is beautifully star-studded. It is said that in the early 20th century, the Burmese Starred Tortoise was high in number. However, soon after, they were caught for food. Their woods were clear-cut and now they are endangered.

And the greatest problem today is they are being caught as pets. In Myanmar, it is illegal to capture and export the Burmese Starred Tortoise. Despite this, large numbers of Burmese Starred Tortoise are being sold in Japan, China, and Thailand. The first step is to severely punish lawbreakers and smugglers.

Tortoise

True Wild Life | Tortoise | The tortoises is a land-dwelling reptile closely related to the tortoise's marine cousin, the sea turtle. The tortoise is found in many countries around the world but particularly in the southern hemisphere where the weather is warmer for most of the year. Tortoises have a hard outer shell to protect them from predators but the skin on the legs, head and belly of the tortoise is quite soft so the tortoise is able to retract it's limbs into it's shell to protect itself. The tortoise's shell can range in size from a few centimetres to a couple of metres, depending on the species of tortoise.

Most species of tortoise have a herbivorous diet eating grasses, weeds, flowers, leafy greens and fruits.Tortoises generally have a lifespan similar to the lifespan of humans although some species of tortoise, like the giant tortoise, have known to be over 150 years old. There are many different species of tortoise around the world that vary in size, colour and diet. Most species of tortoise however are diurnal but in places where it is very hot throughout the day, tortoises will often venture out to find food in the cooler dawn and dusk periods.

Female tortoises dig burrows, known as nesting burrows, in which the female tortoise lays her eggs. The female tortoise can lay between one and thirty eggs at a time but the number is generally around 10 and only a handful of the babies tend to survive as tortoise babies are very vulnerable to attack by all kinds of predators. Once the female tortoise has laid her eggs she leaves the nesting burrow. The eggs hatch between 2 and 4 months later and the baby tortoises are able to start venturing out in search of food when they are about a week old. The size of the baby tortoise and the egg, depends on the size of the mother tortoise.

Today, a number of tortoise species (mainly the smaller species of tortoise) are kept as household pets. The pet tortoise ideally prefers to live in the garden or part of a vegetable patch where there is lots of food for the tortoise to eat. Pet tortoises should have a diet similar to what it would be if the tortoise was in the wild and should not be fed other foods such as cat or dog food. Most species of tortoise, but not all, hibernate during the colder winter months particularly those species of tortoise in the Northern Hemisphere. Tortoises must have an empty stomach before they hibernate and therefore tend to go through a period of starvation beforehand. Tortoises come out of hibernation when the weather begins to get warmer again.

Radiated Tortoise

True Wild Life | Radiated Tortoise | The radiated tortoise is a relatively large species of tortoise, natively found on the island of Madagascar. Although having evolved in similar environments to other star-patterned tortoises from around the tropics, the radiated tortoise has more striking and complex markings than those of the Indian star tortoise, for example. The radiated tortoise is also known as the Sokake in Madagascar, and although they are critically endangered in the wild, it is widely believed that they are the most beautiful of all tortoise species. Naturally then, they are a popular exotic pet, which is thought to be one of the main reasons for their demise.

The radiated tortoise is natively found on the island of Madagascar in the far south and south-western parts of the island. They inhabit dry regions of brush, thorn forests, tall grasses and woodland, with the whole population found in an area 10,000 km squared. Isolated populations can still be found on the higher plateaus as well, but these habitats are incredibly fragmented and the existence of the tortoise here is not thought to go on for much longer. The radiated tortoise is thought to have disappeared entirely from around 40% of it's historical range, due to both habitat loss and exploitation.

Radiated tortoises usually begin mating when they are around half their adult size, and it starts with the male bobbing his head up and down to court his female. Once mated, the female digs a nest in the ground where she lays up to 5 small eggs (although 10 ore more is not uncommon). After an incubation period of between 4 and 7 months, the young radiated tortoises hatch measuring between 3 and 4 cm. Although they are born with their detailed star-patterns, the markings are white until they grow older. Radiated tortoises usually live for 40 to 50 years, but some have been known to be more than 100.

The radiated tortoise is a primarily herbivorous animal, and although the majority of it's diet is comprised of plant matter, they are known to supplement their nutrition by eating a small animal every now and again. Despite this, they need a high fibre and low protein diet to survive the most successfully. Leafy greens, grasses and herbs make up the bulk of the radiated tortoise's food, along with other plant matter like fruits, berries and prickly pears. In a book written about tortoises from around the world, the radiated tortoise is said to be particularly partial to eating foods that are red in colour.

The oldest living reptile was a radiated tortoise known as Tu'i Malila that was given to the Royal family in the mid 1700s by explorer Captain James Cook, and she died in 1965 at around 250 years old from natural causes. Although radiated tortoises are native to Madagascar, they have been introduced to the islands of Reunion and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean to boost their tortoise populations. Despite the fact that many radiated tortoises are eaten in Madagascar, it is actually people coming from other parts of the island, as the local tribes living alongside radiated tortoises believe there is a taboo against both touching and eating them.

Due to a dramatic fall in population numbers, the radiated tortoise has been listed as being Critically Endangered and is therefore under severe threat from becoming extinct in the wild forever. However, captive breeding programs have been relatively successful and are crucial to the survival of this species in the future. Due to the laws about exporting listed species though, there are few found in captivity, most of which are in the USA where they were taken before the species was declared to be at imminent risk from extinction.

Leopard Tortoise

True Wild Life | Leopard Tortoise | The leopard tortoise is a large species of tortoise found throughout the African savannas. The leopard tortoise is the forth largest species of tortoise in the world, and is also the most widely distributed tortoise species in Southern Africa. The leopard tortoise has a wide distribution in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan to the Cape. As a grazing species of tortoise, the leopard tortoise is most commonly found in semi-arid areas including shrubland and grasslands.

The leopard tortoise is one of the world's largest tortoise species as they can grow to 70 cm in length and weigh about as much as a small person. As with other tortoise species, the leopard tortoise has a large shell which protects it's softer body. The limbs of the leopard tortoise are able to retract back into the leopard tortoise's shell so that no body part is left vulnerable. The leopard tortoise is a generally solitary animal that spends the majority of it's time grazing on plants, which it can do effectively using it's sharp beak-like mouth. As with other tortoise species, the leopard tortoise is a long-lived animal species, often reaching 100 years old or even more.

The leopard tortoise is a herbivorous animal meaning that it only eats plants and plant material in order to sustain itself. The leopard tortoise primarily grazes on grasses, leaves, berries and flowers along with fruits such as the prickly pear. Due to it's fairly large size, the leopard tortoise has few natural predators within it's African habitats as many simply cannot penetrate the leopard tortoise's high-domed shell. Humans are the primary predators of the leopard tortoise along with the occasional wild cats and dogs.

Leopard tortoises are not able to reproduce until they are at least 10 years old (known as reaching sexual maturity). As with other tortoise and even reptile species, the female leopard tortoise lays her clutch of up to 18 eggs into a burrow in the ground, which is quickly covered to protect her young from hungry passers-by. Although there are thriving populations of leopard tortoises in more remote areas, when they are close to humans, the leopard tortoise populations are generally suffering, something which is primarily due to over-hunting by humans.