Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Egyptian Tortoise

Testudo kleinmanni

Description:

Another critically endangered turtle (or tortoise if you wanna split hairs), this is the adorable Egyptian tortoise. They are the smallest tortoise is the northern hemisphere. They are native only to a small coastal stretch in Northern Egypt and because of human encroachment, black market for the pet trade or other nefarious uses, and turning the animal's shell into a string instrument for tourists (seriously wtf) almost gaurantee this animals eventual extinction in the wild unless something is done for them. Captive breeding is even difficult for them because they're very delicate tortoises and have small clutches. The Egyptian tortoise can be found in the pet trade but is not often kept by hobbyists and should be avoided without the proper identification of being a captive bred specimen and not a smuggled one. Several US and European Zoos have been able to captive breed this species, so hopefully all is not lost.

Habitat:

Native to small parts of Libya and the Northern coast of Egypt. They are almost completely extinct in the wild.

Notes:

You can make donations of the Turtle Conservancy to help this species, along with several other Endangered or Vulnerable species that need our help.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

No Comments

The GeoDex
Spotted by
The GeoDex

Wichita, Kansas, USA

Spotted on Nov 17, 2018
Submitted on Nov 17, 2018

Spotted for Mission

Related Spottings

Hermann's tortoise Marginated tortoise Testudo hermanni(Hermann's tortoise) Vierteenlandschildpad (Testudo horsfieldii)

Nearby Spottings

Sword-Tail Newt Hellbender Sonoran Desert Toad Kaup's Caecilian
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team