Enchanted Turtle Retreat
Tortoises: Testudo kleinmanni against the odds
Testudo kleinmanni is known as the Egyptian Tortoise and is a CITES Appendix I
species, which means they are threatened with extinction, and international trade in Egyptians is prohibited except for research
purposes. Their native range is a narrow band of land from Libya to Israel
along the Mediterranean Sea. There have been no kleinmanni found in northern Egypt for several decades, and the species
is considered extirpated in Egypt. In the past decade, tortoises east of the Nile Delta have been deemed a different species,
which eliminates the Israeli populations from consideration as Egyptians.
These beautiful, tiny tortoises were eliminated from their native Egypt because of
collection for the pet trade and for traditional markets,
and because of habitat destruction. Libyan populations of the Egyptian Tortoise are declining because of habitat destruction
along the Mediterranean, and political unrest in the country prohibits regular monitoring of Libyan specimens. It is estimated
that there may be as few as 1,000 Egyptians left in the wild. Even if the population numbers are higher, and we certainly hope
there are closer to 5,000 in the wild, fragmentation into two or three isolated subpopulations in their natural range
means none of the subpopulations are large enough to maintain viable breeding groups.
There may come a day when the only Egyptians left in the world are in zoos and with private breeders. This is a sensitive species to
breed, but a few collectors have become very successful at producing captive bred Egyptians. While the captive bred population
grows, there is a disconnect between captive breeding and wild tortoise populations. Even if captive bred tortoises could be
introduced to the wild habitat, those groups would face the same problems that native Egyptian Tortoises suffered.