The largest mainland tortoise!
The African spurred tortoise is Africa’s biggest
tortoise: the males can weigh up to 100 kg. It is
also the one found in the most arid regions and
which digs the longest burrows: the tunnels can
reach up to 15 metres in length!
You can observe it from May to October (depending on the weather!) In a park shared with dwarf goats. Don’t worry if you see one of them on its back: it stands up on its own!
Latin name: Centrochelys sulcata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Testudines
Family: Testudinidae
Size: up to 80 cm
Weight: up to 100 kg
Lifespan: up to 100 years
Reproduction : oviparous
Incubation: 3 months
Number of eggs: 13 – 31 eggs per laying, 2 to 4 laying per year
Habitat: savannahs, semi-desert areas
Diet: scavenger and herbivorous
Distribution: Africa, in a large Sahelo-Sudanese strip, from Mauritania and Senegal to Ethiopia.
Conservation status: vulnerable