Madagascar: Village des Tortues Reserve

This reserve protects and also acts as a breeding facility for extremely endangered Madagascar radiated and spider land tortoises. Both are endemic to the dry deserts of the spiny forests of the southern Madagascar and are found nowhere else on earth. Radiated tortoises have been all but eliminated by pet trade demands but are recovering now. There are thousands of tiny tortoises roaming the reserve grounds – they are very slow growing and reach 30-40cm length by age 20. The spider tortoises are even more striking – with beautiful patterns on their backs – they are small, only 10-15cm long and spend the whole winter buried and sleeping in the sand. I saw 3 of them – just the shell tops in the sand.
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