I do hope they get more. They will only breed in a true herd situation (with multiple males and females ..). Important also to separate M / F off breeding season.
I do hope they get more. They will only breed in a true herd situation (with multiple males and females ..). Important also to separate M / F off breeding season.
BTW: the true genus name now is Centrochelys. So, Centrochelys sulcata.
The Indian Ocean genus is Dipsochelys for the Seychelles / Aldabra.
Those from Mauritius, Rodriguez, Round Island, Flat Land et cetera were (I say were ..., alas) Cylindaspris ssp. Sadly, both formerly existing taxa on Mauritius itself are now extinct. As sadly are all the other small Indian Ocean island taxa ..... This all happened within a good 2 centuries of illegal poaching. A last minute rescue operation to save both Mauritian taxa ended in dismal failure when the then governor Mahe de Labourdonnais ordered capture and relocation of the surviving tortoises and these were packed in their thousands on board ships to nearby islands. Alas, most did not even survive the journey ... and what happened to the rest ... is another sad story. The only good thing to come out of this was that the then governor de Labourdonnais realised his own men were responsible for illegal poaching and he at least tried to instate conservation measures to save them.
A new project is bringing back the tortoises - "the large grazers" - to the territory and has chosen Dipsochelys dussumieri from Aldabra and Astrochelys radiata from Madagascar to take over the role of the original Cylindaspris seed germinators in the Mauritian ecosystem for the benefit of its unique and rare / threatened plant life. One reason / issue governing the rarity and near-extinction of large swathes of Mauritian flora was the lack of a go-between species in the germination process of seeds. This has now been overcome with the introduction of both tortoise species and a good number of rare plant species are benefiting. An great example of ecosystem regeneration.
The Madagascan genus is Astrochelys for large / giant tortoise with 2 representatives; A. yniphora and A. radiata.
