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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Indian Star Tortoise

True Wild Life | Indian Star Tortoise | The Indian star tortoise is a medium sized species of tortoise found in the dry and arid forests of both Indian and Sri Lanka. The Indian star tortoise is named for the star-like patterns on it's high-domed shell which are distinctive to both species of star tortoise (the other being the critically endangered Burmese star tortoise, found in the deciduous forests of Burma). As it's name suggests the Indian star tortoise is found across the Indian sub-continent, more specifically, the Indian star tortoise is found in the central and Southern parts of India, in West Pakistan and in Sri Lanka. The Indian star tortoise is most commonly found in semi-arid scrub forest, along with thorny and grassland habitats, where there is plenty of vegetation both to hide in and munch on.

Desert Tortoise

True Wild Life | Desert Tortoise | The desert tortoise is a medium-sized species of tortoise that is found in the south-western desert regions of Northern America, and parts of northern Mexico. The desert tortoise is most commonly known for its high, patterned shell and the fact that is lives in burrows underground. The desert tortoise is found inhabiting the vast sandy plains and rocky foothills that are in and surround both the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. When temperatures get too high for the desert tortoise it simply digs itself a burrow into the sand where it can remain cool until the heat dies down.

Aldabra Giant Tortoise

True Wild Life | Aldabra Giant Tortoise | The Aldabra giant tortoise is a giant species of tortoise native to the Aldabra islands in the Indian ocean. The Aldabra giant tortoise is one of the largest species of tortoise on the planet and is one of the world's longest living animals, with one Aldabra giant tortoise individual reaching the grand old age of 255 years old.

Galapagos Tortoise

True Wild Life | Galapagos Tortoise | The Galapagos tortoise (giant Galapagos tortoise) was first documented by Charles Darwin last century when he went on his trip to the Galapagos islands. The Galapagos Tortoise is the biggest species of tortoise in the modern world with some Galapagos tortoises reaching more than 4ft long! The Galapagos tortoise is also one the longest living species of tortoise with a number of Galapagos tortoises getting older than 150!

The Galapagos tortoise, like most other species of tortoise, is a herbivore spending its time grazing on grass and low trees. Today only 10 out of the 12 Galapagos tortoise species still exist on the Pacific islands due to the introduction of goats a few hundred years ago. The domestic goat, stripped the islands of their good foliage meaning that the Galapagos tortoise found it hard to find food. Today the Galapagos tortoise is most well known for their long necks, which make them look slightly like a dinosaur!