Most specimens in the UK, and even a significant proportion of those in the rest of Europe, are confiscations given to the zoo through customs. I'm not sure about in Israel, but in Egypt it's still relatively easy to acquire these tortoises (even though they're quite expensive). Because of their appearance and small size, they are frequently smuggled into the EU. I can't remember whether it was at your zoo, but some of your photos of Negev tortoises looked quite different to these: I know that members the Negev and Libyan populations are supposed to look very similar, but I've found that zoos still generally label specimens from the two populations separately, based on appearance. Do you know if identifying the populations on the basis of the animal's appearance is a reliable way of working it out?
I know that my boss formed a breeding program for them she collected them according to their appearence, i can ask her what is uniqe about ours...which called "Testudo kleinmanni "
@drzoomi, please do. I think the Israeli ones are not called just T. kleinmanni anymore. The name currently assigned to Negev and Sinai littoral Egyptian tortoise is T. werneri.
