IUCN threat status:

Vulnerable (VU)

Brief Summary

Read full entry
Most activity occurs during the rainy season (July to October), primarily at dawn and dusk, when this tortoise forages for succulent plants and annual grasses (4) (5). Like many species, the African spurred tortoise often spends the early morning basking to raise its body temperature after the night chill. During the dry season, adults often aestivate in their cool, moist burrows to prevent dehydration, while hatchlings are thought to enter small mammal burrows for the same purpose (4) (5). Mating can take place at any time from June through to March, but reportedly occurs most frequently after the rainy season from September to November (4) (5). Four or five nests may be dug before the female decides upon the one in which to lay her clutch of 15 to 30 eggs. Once deposited, these eggs incubate underground in the covered nest for approximately eight months (4) (5). From the moment they hatch, African spurred tortoises are very aggressive towards one another, and especially so at breeding times (4) (5). Males in particular can commonly be seen ramming into each other and attempting to flip one another over (4).

Trusted

Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

© Wildscreen

Source: ARKive

Belongs to 1 community

Disclaimer

EOL content is automatically assembled from many different content providers. As a result, from time to time you may find pages on EOL that are confusing.

To request an improvement, please leave a comment on the page. Thank you!