Welcome to no 16 of 16 Reptile Roadshow Animal Profiles – Leopard Tortoise – celebrating 16 years of Reptile Parties and Events
1. Genus/species: Geochelone pardalis.
2. The leopard tortoise is one of the largest mainland tortoises and has an elevated carapace that is tawny, yellow or buff, with brown centres
3. They can reach about two feet (61 cm) in length and weigh up to 70 pounds (32 kg).
4. Leopard tortoises occur naturally throughout southern and eastern Africa from the coastal plains to elevations up to 10,000 feet (3,050 m) above sea level.
5. 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.
6. leopard tortoise is a long-lived animal species, often reaching 100 years old or even more.
7. Leopard tortoises are herbivores.
8. Due to it’s fairly large size, the leopard tortoise has few natural predators within it’s Africanhabitats as many simply cannot penetrate the leopard tortoise’s shell.
9. They reach sexual maturity at 10 years.
10. 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.
11. As the climate is quite balanced They do not hibernate.
12. The external shell is dome shaped and individual to each tortoise.
13. In the wild that they do not require much water , they can extract it from the food itself.
14. In the wild they can often be found taking cover under trees and in caves during the midday sun.
15. Leopard tortoises are often kept as pets in the US and UK.
16. Reptile Roadshow sometimes features the leopard tortoise.
Reptile Roadshow celebrates going strong for 16 years. We hope you enjoyed this animal profile. This reptile is just one of many you can see at Reptile Roadshow events.
To book your own Reptile Roadshow party contact us at 01908 640 072 or email.
Make sure you checkout the other animal profiles on our blog.