Threatened species of Testudo kleinmanni

The main threats endangering the future survival of this species in Egypt are: extensive (mostly irreversible) habitat destruction and wide-spread ecological changes caused by agricultural expansion, cultivation, over grazing and urban encroachment; continued intensive collection for the pet trade by locals and professional collectors. The fragile habitat of this species has been ravaged by severe over-grazing, massive reclamation schemes involving large areas of semi-desert and intensive coastal development for tourism and urban expansion; not to mention other abusive practices these habitats are subjected to through military exercises and other vehicular usage. Sheep and goats directly compete with tortoises over the same food resource.

Testudo kleinmanni is a small Testudinid inhabiting the fairly arid deserts fringing the south eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, extending as far as 120 km inland at some localities. The species formerly occupied a wider area extending from the western Negev in Israel to the central coastal region of Libya.

Large numbers of Egyptian tortoises were collected from Egypt during the first half of this century for sale as pets particularly in Europe. This continued until the mid seventies, by which time the species was extirpated from large parts of the North Coast where collecting was possible. With the return of Sinai to Egypt in 1982 a new ground was open for collectors. Tortoises were collected sporadically from the area during the mid eighties.

The species is considered as vulnerable by the IUCN Reptilia and Amphibia Red Data Book (1982) and the 1990 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (IUCN 1990). If current trends continue unchanged and unchallenged in the near future, no viable populations of this species will remain in the wild. The species appears to have been eliminated from the larger part of its former range in Egypt and has certainly completely disappeared from a 15-20 km strip adjacent to the Mediterranean.

The biggest setback this species has suffered recently took place after political relations between Egypt and Libya improved and the borders between the two countries were opened in 1989. Egyptians working as herders in Libya find and collect large numbers of tortoises (mostly T. kleinmanni but also some T. graeca) and export them across the border for the pet trade in Egypt. Thousands, of both species were imported to Egypt through the past five years (1989-94). It has been estimated that The annual total of Egyptian tortoises collected sold in this way could be any where between 5-10,000 animals. The economic return from this trade is meagre. Only a handful of people might depend partially on the trade in this species for their livelihood. For herders, tortoise collection is a source of occasional extra income and does not form a significant part of their livelihood by all accounts.