Hermann's Tortoise
The Hermann's Tortoise, one of five species, is a small to medium-sized tortoise in the family Testudinidae . Young animals, and some adults, have attractive black and yellow-patterned carapaces, although the brightness may fade with age to a less distinct grey, straw, or yellow coloration. They have slightly hooked upper jaws and, like other tortoises, possess no teeth just strong, horny beaks. The scaly limbs are greyish to brown with some yellow markings and their tails bear a spur (a horny spike) at the tip. Adult males have particularly long and thick tails and well-developed spurs, distinguishing them from females.
The Hermann's Tortoise can be found throughout southern Europe. The western sub-species is found in eastern Spain, southern France, the Balearic islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, south and central Italy and the eastern sub-species is found Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Greece. The eastern sub-species is generally much larger than the western sub-species, reaching sizes up to 11 inches in length.
The Hermann's Tortoise is restricted to areas with hot summers and can be found in a variety of habitats including lush meadows, scrub-covered hillsides, light woodland, dune areas and even rubbish dumps. Males may have home ranges of about 2 hectares and females half this.
Early in the morning, the Hermann's Tortoise will leave its nightly shelter, which are usually hollows protected by thick bushes or hedges, to bask in the sun and warm their bodies. They then roam about their habitat in search of food and determine which plants to eat by the sense of smell. In addition to leaves and flowers, the Hermann's Tortoise eats small amounts fruits as supplementary nutrition. When the sun becomes too hot the Hermann's Tortoise returns to its shelter, before emerging again in the late afternoon and evening to feed.
In late February, the Hermann's Tortoise emerges from under bushes or old rotting wood, where it spends the winter months hibernating, buried in a bed of dead leaves. Immediately after surfacing from their winter resting place, the Hermann’s Tortoise commences courtship and mating. Courtship is a rough affair for the female, which is pursued, rammed and bitten by the male before being mounted. Aggression is also seen between rival males during the breeding season which can result in ramming contests.
Between May and July, a female Hermann’s Tortoise will deposit between 2 and 12 eggs into flask-shaped nests dug into the soil up to 4 inches deep. Most females lay more than one clutch each season. The pinkish-white eggs are incubated for around 90 days.
Young Hermann’s Tortoises emerge just after the start of the heavy autumn rains in early September and spend the first 4 or 5 years of their lives close to their nests. If the rains do not come, or if nesting took place late in the year, the eggs will still hatch but the young will remain underground and not emerge until the following spring.
Until the age of 6 or 8 years, when the hard shell becomes fully developed, the young tortoises are very vulnerable to predators but if they survive these threats, the longevity of Hermann’s Tortoises is around 30 years. The longevity might be underestimated and many sources are reporting they might live 90 years or more.
Date: 7th May 2015
Location: Evros Delta (west), East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece
The Hermann's Tortoise can be found throughout southern Europe. The western sub-species is found in eastern Spain, southern France, the Balearic islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, south and central Italy and the eastern sub-species is found Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and Greece. The eastern sub-species is generally much larger than the western sub-species, reaching sizes up to 11 inches in length.
The Hermann's Tortoise is restricted to areas with hot summers and can be found in a variety of habitats including lush meadows, scrub-covered hillsides, light woodland, dune areas and even rubbish dumps. Males may have home ranges of about 2 hectares and females half this.
Early in the morning, the Hermann's Tortoise will leave its nightly shelter, which are usually hollows protected by thick bushes or hedges, to bask in the sun and warm their bodies. They then roam about their habitat in search of food and determine which plants to eat by the sense of smell. In addition to leaves and flowers, the Hermann's Tortoise eats small amounts fruits as supplementary nutrition. When the sun becomes too hot the Hermann's Tortoise returns to its shelter, before emerging again in the late afternoon and evening to feed.
In late February, the Hermann's Tortoise emerges from under bushes or old rotting wood, where it spends the winter months hibernating, buried in a bed of dead leaves. Immediately after surfacing from their winter resting place, the Hermann’s Tortoise commences courtship and mating. Courtship is a rough affair for the female, which is pursued, rammed and bitten by the male before being mounted. Aggression is also seen between rival males during the breeding season which can result in ramming contests.
Between May and July, a female Hermann’s Tortoise will deposit between 2 and 12 eggs into flask-shaped nests dug into the soil up to 4 inches deep. Most females lay more than one clutch each season. The pinkish-white eggs are incubated for around 90 days.
Young Hermann’s Tortoises emerge just after the start of the heavy autumn rains in early September and spend the first 4 or 5 years of their lives close to their nests. If the rains do not come, or if nesting took place late in the year, the eggs will still hatch but the young will remain underground and not emerge until the following spring.
Until the age of 6 or 8 years, when the hard shell becomes fully developed, the young tortoises are very vulnerable to predators but if they survive these threats, the longevity of Hermann’s Tortoises is around 30 years. The longevity might be underestimated and many sources are reporting they might live 90 years or more.
Date: 7th May 2015
Location: Evros Delta (west), East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece
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Also in: East Macedonia and Thrace
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