African Spurred Tortoise
Geochelone sulcata

Where to find an African Spurred Tortoise: Central and northern Africa in dry regions, woodlands and semi-desert grass and shrub land.

I'll just have a salad, please: Like all tortoises, the African Spurred Tortoise is 100% herbivorous. It eats assorted vegetables and fruits.

Are those spurs you're wearing? African Spurred Tortoises get their name from a particularly unique feature - they have spur-like plating on their thighs. The spurs, however, serve no apparent purpose.
Males grow to be as large as 35 inches, females, 26 inches.

Babies are a long time in the making! The female tortoise lays her eggs in a pear-shaped nest in the ground covered with dirt. The eggs, which are 5 1/2 inches around, look like large ping-pong balls and must incubate for approximately 212 days. Hatchlings emerge one to three days after a rain, usually at night or early morning, and are two inches long.

How many birthdays does an African Spurred Tortoise have? This tortoise has been known to live for over a century!

Faster than a speeding bullet - in tortoise terms, anyway: The African Spurred Tortoise can actually run and burrow very well. They dig permanent sleeping burrows, where two or more tortoises may sleep. These tortoises get especially active when it rains, but become inactive in very hot or very cold weather.

Just call me "Spot": African Spurred Tortoises have become a common pet in Europe.

Status: Common

*Roger Williams Park Zoo is a participant in the Species Survival Program, a cooperative effort by zoos to manage the population of rare and endangered animals. Read more.

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