AFRICAN ARMORED TURTLE
(Geochelone sulcata – Centrochelys sulcata)
The largest land turtle and the third largest in the world. Its natural habitat is Africa. It is in the status of vulnerable (VU) in terms of the danger of extinction of the species. The average lifespan is 50-80 years, although there are reports of lifespans of around 100 years. Females can reach a weight of up to 40 kg, and males up to 50 kg. The length of the armor is up to 80 cm. Their diet is herbivores.
Their most interesting feature is reproduction. Depending on the influence of the external environment (temperature), the embryo acquires a gender during development, and develops either as a female or as a male. If the development of the embryo is at lower temperatures, say below 30 degrees, males hatch from the eggs. If the development of the embryo takes place at higher temperatures, say above 30 degrees, the eggs hatch into females. African armored tortoises can lay up to 24 eggs.
BABY AFRICAN ARMORED TURTLE IN THE PALIĆ ZOO
Palić Zoo has 3 adults, 2 females and 1 male in its collection.
On March 10, 2022. In 2008, a female turtle laid 24 eggs, which is the maximum for this species. In order to ensure the conditions for embryo development, the eggs are placed in an incubator with a dry and water environment, that is, a dry terrarium is placed in an aquarium. In the incubator, the temperature (27-30 degrees) and the air humidity, which is regulated at 70-80 percent, are regularly monitored. The incubator was set up in cooperation with the expert service of the Beo zoo.
The first baby turtle hatched on the 90th day, 06/09/2022. year, and later in the following days, 13 more turtles hatched, so that 14 African turtle hatchlings hatched from 24 eggs. The success of breeding with this procedure was 58%, which is a great success, because this method of development in an incubator was done for the first time in the Palić Zoo.
We are proud of the cooperation between the two largest zoos in Serbia (Palić Zoo and Beo Zoo), without which it is impossible to obtain valuable information gained through experience in keeping and breeding exotic animal species.