Tortue Grecque

Legal importation of Mediterranean tortoises to Europe began from 1890 onwards, and this legal trade stopped in 1984. Most of these tortoises were Mediterranean tortoises and more specifically Testudo graeca graeca, Testudo graeca marokkensis and Testudo graeca soussensis from North Africa. Of all terrestrial tortoises, few have been as heavily plundered from the wild as those from North Africa. It is difficult to estimate precise figures, but CITES indicates that it is by tens of millions that these animals have been extracted (and still are illegally today) from their natural habitat over more than a century. It is estimated that for the United Kingdom alone, imports of animals from these three taxa over this period would exceed 10 million. At the very beginning, trade was not extensive and tortoises were rare curiosities. Most of these animals were brought to Europe individually, or at most in very small quantities, by sailors. Traces of commercial imports begin to be found 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, stuffed into crates and sacks, and shipped to pet shops and markets throughout Europe. Many died during the journey and others arrived sick, injured or weakened. By the early twentieth century, exported tortoises were counted annually by thousands and by the middle of this century by hundreds of thousands. The only respite for tortoises came during World War II when exports temporarily ceased. After World War II, with stocks declining in North Africa, people also turned to tortoises from Var, Corsica, Italy, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, which are more robust such as Testudo hermanni, Testudo hermanni boettgeri, Testudo graeca ibera, Testudo marginata and Testudo horsfieldii. In 1969, Lambert reported that more than 300,000 tortoises were exported annually from Morocco alone to Great Britain in the post-war period. One can assume that the same quantities were extracted from all of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya. Between 1965 and 1976, it is estimated that France imported massive quantities of Testudo sensu lato (hermanni, graeca, marginata, horsfieldii...) at a rate of 120,000 to 150,000 specimens per year, even going so far as to destroy unsold tortoises as was the case in 1972 in Marseille where 5 tons of Testudo horsfieldii were crushed (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 the same demand for tortoises throughout Europe with Germany, the Netherlands and many other countries of the European Community. All these European countries imported hundreds of thousands of wild tortoises annually, thereby drastically depleting populations in the field, and bringing all these species to the status of endangered species. During this period there was absolutely no attempt to protect these animals which were considered as consumer goods and leisure items. Being too heavy for air freight (3,000 tortoises weigh approximately one ton), they were transported by ship. The fate awaiting these creatures on arrival was often appalling. Moreover, very few of these tortoises survived their first hibernation in captivity (hibernation done contrary to common sense, since winter in the European sense does not exist and has never existed in the Maghreb). Blatt and Müller in a survey conducted in Germany dating from 1974 on Testudo graeca calculated that more than 82% of animals were dead after one year. It is even estimated that only 10% of the animals sold in the Maghrebi taxa (even born in capt

Tortoises are ectothermic animals, meaning their body temperature is closely dependent on ambient temperature, their physiology lacking an internal thermostatic system. They are also poikilothermic animals, meaning their metabolic activity performance is dependent on temperature according to a function applying Poisson's law. Optimal metabolic functions are achieved at the peak of the Poisson's law graphical curve (temperatures on the x-axis, metabolic performance on the y-axis) taking the traditional 'gendarme hat' shape. The optimal temperature for poikilothermic metabolism is called 'mean preferred temperature' (MPT). But this mean preferred temperature must in no way be maintained constantly, as the various nycthemeral phases of poikilothermic metabolism require fluctuating variations centered on this MPT but with significant amplitude according to the time of day and night. Moreover, if the temperature increases too much, 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 the temperature drops too significantly, the vital functions of the poikilothermic organism will progressively be put at rest to conserve all energy expenditure. Rest that can extend 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 elevation 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 just a few plants: thistles, alfalfa and young shoots. Some populations hibernate in highland areas (Middle Atlas), but most often these tortoises estivate during hot months, hidden under bushes or in crevices. Males are often aggressive and confront each other bitterly during breeding season. Preambles to mating take place in early 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 terms of size: the male is smaller than the female (15 cm versus 30 cm) and one often sees very small males mating with much larger females. Clutches take place from April to June. Three clutches are frequent with a record of five for the same 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 later take on a more contrasted black-yellowish coloration. When very old, Greek tortoises can display a 'white' shell that in no way reflects a handicap or disease.

Terrestrial tortoises of the genus Testudo are primarily vegetarian (phytophagous). In nature, they have a diet often very diverse and primarily herbivorous, but also folivorous and frugivorous (the weight of fruit should not exceed 10% of the total weight of the weekly ration). They feed on stems, leaves, flowers, buds, fruits and bark fragments. During active periods, they feed every day and consume several small meals during 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 some rare invertebrates (worms, snails) and feces. Contrary to popular belief, the tortoise finds almost nothing to eat in turf grass. Grass is moreover forbidden ground for tortoises (all tortoises), due to the high water retention of this grass and its significant temperature difference with soil, the thermal absorption of grass being very important, causing many respiratory pathologies and dermal pathologies of the plastron particularly in all species and subspecies of the graeca group. Testudo graeca and all its variations, whether from North Africa, the Near East or the shores of the Black Sea, is moreover a tortoise that in nature lives exclusively on completely bare soil scattered with simple shrubs. This soil is even close to total bareness 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% fruit. It should be generally poor in fat and protein. On the other hand, it should be rich in minerals (with twice as much calcium as phosphorus (phosphocalcic imbalance in tortoises is one of three main factors of hypertrophic dystrophy, a very serious bone disease). It should also be rich in fiber, trace elements, water and vitamins (notably vitamin A). Here is a list of foods suitable for terrestrial tortoise nutrition: dandelion leaves and flowers, endive, 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 the flowers), turnip leaves, hibiscus leaves and flowers, mulberry leaves, cacti and succulents.