Leopard Tortoise

• GeneralThe fourth largest tortoise in the world, and one of the few that swims well.
• It is one of the few African land tortoises able to swim: its strongly domed shell gives it enough buoyancy and stability to cross watercourses, something most tortoises cannot do.
• Its incubation is among the longest and most variable of any tortoise: the eggs can take more than a year to hatch, waiting underground for the rains to soften the soil.
• It is one of Africa's Little Five, an informal tourist list of smaller wildlife created as a counterpoint to the Big Five of the safari.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton with a shell (reptile)

Habitat and environment

Arid savannah, thorn scrub and grassland of eastern and southern Africa

Sexual maturity

5.5 years

Gestation / incubation

12 months

Litter / clutch size

12 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Stigmochelys pardalis