One of the 41 turtles and tortoises on WAnimals
Reptiles · Testudines · Testudinidae
African Spurred Tortoise
Centrochelys sulcata
Endangered
At very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
The African spurred tortoise is a species of cryptodire tortoise of the family Testudinidae and the only member of the genus Centrochelys. It used to live across much of the territory along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, in the Sahel, and today survives almost only inside national parks and wildlife reserves. It is threatened in its habitat by the urbanisation of that habitat, by desertification, farming and grazing, as well as by the use of its meat as local food and in traditional medicine.
Weight
40 kg – 100 kg
Size
60 cm – 85 cm
Life expectancy
80 years
