Grecque

Legal importation of Mediterranean tortoises to Europe began in 1890 and this legal trade ceased in 1984. Most of these tortoises were Mediterranean tortoises, more specifically Testudo graeca graeca, Testudo graeca marokkensis and Testudo graeca soussensis from North Africa. Of all terrestrial tortoises, few have been as heavily poached from nature as those of North Africa. It is difficult to estimate precise figures but CITES indicates that these animals have been extracted (and continue to be extracted illegally today) from their natural habitat in tens of millions over more than a century. It is estimated that for the United Kingdom alone, imports of animals of these three taxa over this period would be above 10 million. At the very beginning, trade was not widespread and tortoises were rare curiosities. Most of these animals were brought to Europe individually, or at best in very small quantities, by sailors. Commercial importation traces begin to appear in England around 1886 and in France around 1894 with the first shipments from Algiers to Marseille. These unfortunate creatures were caught in their country of origin, crammed into boxes, bags and shipped to pet shops and markets across Europe. Many died during transport and others arrived sick, injured or weakened. In the early twentieth century, exported tortoises were counted annually in thousands and by mid-century in hundreds of thousands. The only respite for tortoises occurred during World War II when exports temporarily ceased. After World War II, as North African stocks declined, tortoises from Var, Corsica, Italy, the Balkans and Eastern Europe were also sought, hardier species such as Testudo hermanni, Testudo hermanni boettgeri, Testudo graeca ibera, Testudo marginata and Testudo horsfieldii. In 1969, Lambert reports that over 300,000 tortoises were exported annually from Morocco alone to Great Britain in the post-war period. One can assume that similar quantities were extracted from the entire Algeria, Tunisia, Libya combination. Between 1965 and 1976, France is estimated to have imported massive quantities of Testudo sensu lato (hermanni, graeca, marginata, horsfieldii...) at a rate of 120,000 to 150,000 specimens per year, even destroying unsold tortoises as was the case in 1972 in Marseille where 5 tons of Testudo horsfieldii were crushed (while alive!) for livestock feed production. France is said to have even imported 700,000 Testudo graeca and Testudo hermanni for the year 1979 alone. There was similar demand for tortoises throughout Europe with Germany, the Netherlands and many other European Community countries. All these European countries annually imported hundreds of thousands of wild tortoises, drastically depleting populations in the wild, and bringing all these species to endangered status. During this period there were absolutely no attempts to protect these animals, which were considered consumer and leisure products. Being too heavy for air freight (3,000 tortoises weigh approximately one ton), they were transported by ship. The fate awaiting these creatures upon arrival was often dreadful. Furthermore very few of these tortoises survived their first hibernation in captivity (hibernation moreover done against all reason, since winter in the European sense does not exist and has never existed in the Maghreb). Blatt and Müller in a 1974 survey conducted in Germany on Testudo graeca calculated that more than 82% of animals were dead within a year. It is even estimated that only 10% of animals sold in Maghrebi taxa (even those born in cap

Tortoises are ectothermic animals, meaning their body temperature is intimately dependent on the ambient temperature, their physiology lacking an internal thermostatic system. They are also poikilothermic animals, meaning the performance of their metabolic activity is dependent on temperature following a Poisson distribution function. Optimal metabolic functions are achieved at the peak of the Poisson distribution curve (temperatures on abscissa, metabolic performance on ordinate) affecting the traditional "gendarme hat" shape. The optimal temperature for poikilothermic metabolism is called "preferred mean temperature" (PMT). But this preferred mean temperature must by no means be maintained constantly, as the various nycthemeral stages of poikilothermic metabolism require fluctuating variations centered on this PMT but with significant amplitude according to hours of day and night. Moreover if temperature increases too greatly, the vital functions of the poikilothermic organism will accelerate dangerously... potentially leading to the animal's death. To avoid this situation, the animal burrows into cool soil for a period of estivation. Conversely, if temperature drops too significantly, the vital functions of the poikilothermic organism will gradually shut down to conserve all energy expenditure. Shutdown which can lead to hibernation... if the species is adapted to the physiological state of hibernation by its evolutionary past (which is not the case for Testudo graeca from the Maghreb, unlike Testudo graeca from the Iranian plateau, Turkey, Georgia, eastern Greece and Romania). It is preferable that any variation in ambient temperature be gentle and regular. A sudden variation causes thermal shock, with significant risk of sudden death from tachycardia in case of sudden temperature rise or from bradycardia in case of sudden temperature drop. In general, tortoises therefore have different behaviors depending on temperatures:

The Greek tortoise lives in arid environments and its diet is sometimes limited to a few vegetables: thistles, alfalfa and young shoots. Some populations hibernate in high-altitude environments (Middle Atlas), but most often these tortoises estivate during hot months, hidden under bushes or in crevices. Males are often aggressive and fight fiercely during breeding season. Breeding preliminaries occur at the very beginning of spring and after rare autumn rains. The male pursues the female, bites her violently on the legs or neck, circles around her to immobilize her and climbs onto her shell. Sexual dimorphism is very marked in this species, especially in size: the male is smaller than the female (15 cm vs 30 cm) and one often sees very small males mating with much larger females. Egg-laying occurs from April to June. Three clutches are frequent with a record of five for one female. Each clutch contains a maximum of a dozen eggs with an average of 7 eggs. This species is credited with exceptional longevity, but only in captivity: in England a tortoise lived to 120 years. At birth, young tortoises are often grayish and then take on more contrasting yellow-black coloration. Very old Greek tortoises can then display a "white" shell which in no way reflects a handicap or disease.

Terrestrial tortoises of the genus Testudo are mainly vegetarian (phytophagous). In nature, they have a very diverse diet, primarily herbivorous, but also folivorous and frugivorous (fruit weight should not exceed 10% of total weekly ration weight). They feed on stems, leaves, flowers, buds, fruits and bark fragments. During the active period, they feed daily and ingest several small meals throughout the day, essentially in crepuscular behavior and especially in the morning. In agricultural areas, they feed on some fruits and cultivated plants. They supplement their diet with a few rare invertebrates (worms, snails) and feces. Contrary to popular belief, the tortoise finds almost nothing to eat in grass. Grass is moreover forbidden soil for tortoises (all tortoises), because of the high water retention of this grass and its significant temperature difference from soil, the thermal absorption of grass being very high, causing many respiratory and dermatological pathologies of the plastron especially in all species and subspecies of the graeca group. Testudo graeca and all its variations, whether from North Africa, the Middle East or the Black Sea shores, is a tortoise that in nature lives exclusively on completely bare soil scattered with simple bushes. This soil is even close to complete nudity in almost all of Morocco and in the central steppes of Tunisia. The diet of terrestrial tortoises should consist of approximately 90% vegetables and 10% fruits. It should be globally low in fat and protein. On the other hand, it should be rich in minerals (with twice as much calcium as phosphorus (phosphocalcium imbalance in tortoises is one of the three main factors in hypertrophic dystrophy, a very serious bone disease). It should also be rich in fiber, trace elements, water and vitamins (especially vitamin A). Here is a list of foods suitable for feeding terrestrial tortoises: dandelion leaves and flowers, endives, romaine, watercress, alfalfa, clover leaves and flowers, cabbage (green parts only, avoid all white parts), spinach (in small quantity), kiwi, mango, papaya, fresh fig, orange, celery stalks, chard, beet leaves, broccoli leaves (avoid flowers), turnip leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers, mulberry leaves, cacti and succulents.