HABITAT AND RANGE:
The Sulcata tortoise lives in hot, arid
environments of the Sahelian type. These
areas range from desert fringes to dry
savannahs. Standing water is only around
for limited amounts of time. The sulcata
tortoise occurs along the southern edge
of the Sahara, from Senegal and
Mauritania east through Mali, Niger,
Chad, the Sudan, Ethiopia, and along the
Red Sea in Eritrea.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
They are the largest of the African
mainland tortoises. These tortoises have
broad, oval, flattened carapaces that
are brown to yellow in color. The
carapace is flattened dorsally, with
abruptly descending sides and a deep
cervical notch. The anterior and
posterior marginals are serrated, and
the posterior marginals upturned. They
do not have a cervical scute. The
plastron is ivory colored with divided
anal scutes and paired forked gulars.
They have growth rings on the scutes
that are strongly marked with age. Skin
color is golden to yellow-brown and
very, very thick. Mature males usually
develop reverted marginal scales in the
front. The large scales on the front
legs overlap. On the rear legs, there
are spurs which are not known to serve
any particular purpose.
ADAPTATIONS:
Sulcatas like to burrow and are well
adapted at doing it. They are very
strong and active tortoises and when the
weather gets too hot or too cold for
them, they retreat to a burrow. This
also helps them to avoid dehydration,
since they depend mainly on metabolic
water and the moisture in food for
water. When temperatures reach more than
40 C, they salivate and smear the saliva
on their forearms to help with cooling.
DIET:
The Sulcata Tortoises are vegetarian. It
relies on succulent plants for food and
much of its water. In captivity, it will
eat a variety of grasses, lettuce,
berseem, and morning-glory leaves.
REPRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT:
After mating between September and
November, the female's body will swell
with eggs and she will decrease her food
intake. She becomes increasingly
restless as she looks for good places to
make a nest. Nesting season is in the
autumn. Her clutch size may reach 15-30
eggs, sometimes more.
STATUS IN WILD:
The US Federal List does not give this
tortoise a special status. However, the
IUCN Red List states that they are
“vulnerable.”
