A loner in a group of four Egyptians

[dmmj]

Sounds normal, as long as he does not climb the local water tower, it should be fine.

 

[Fernando]

She's just trying to be a rebel...start a new trend...look cool...ya' know

 

[CyberianHusky]

The point I was trying to make is that they are not plentiful but they are not extinct.

I've spoken with Omar on the 2 times I saw him lecture. The lectures and speaking with him was very enlightening.

I have a copy of his "An Evaluation of the Taxonomic Validity of Testudo werneri". I earlier tried to find the link to include it as well, since it references some Egyptian Tortoises from Egypt. All but two of the western tortoises were from museums or an confiscated group imported from Libya.


I just searched him, and here's what I found.
http://www.uga.edu/srel/ecoviews/ecoview030428.htm
I'm glad he's there documenting and researching this species.
http://seedmagazine.com/place/place_omar-attum.html
This one is interesting, although it only indicates he has found a small relic population.
http://www.uga.edu/srel/ecoviews/ecoview030428.htm
This article is about releasing Libyan T. kleinmanni into old habitats in Egypt, basically repatriation.
http://www.int-res.com/articles/esr2010/12/n012p011.pdf
An interesting article about Egyptians who are trying to save their namesake tortoises.
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/guests/tortoisecare/project.html

This site has some interesting information as well, although it doesn't reference Omar Attum.
http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/21652/0

I was not able to pull up full articles on other research by Omar Attum, only abstracts. He has apparently given some lectures and I don't know what other articles he may have written. From what I was able to find, he is responsible for discovering some relic populations in Egypt, but focuses his research on that they are virtually extinct there. It's possible he may have found many other populations in the last few years, and they are indeed common, but I wasn't able to find evidence for it.
I hope you're right, and they really are plentiful, EJ! I'd be interested in any additional research on them you might have.

Steve

I didn't take into account other species of tortoise in gardens in Libya and did think plentiful was an overstatement. In Pennsylvania people go back and forth on the population of its Bog Turtles cause they are so allusive. Would love to see one in the wild though.

 

[tortoises101]

It doesn't look like that's the case. Don't get me wrong... they still have a very limited range and they are still exploited. They are rare.

Try and find some articles by Omar Attum.

EJ,
I thought they were virtually extinct in Egypt as well. Maybe they're not.
Here is what I found with a quick web search using "egyptian tortoise extinct" as keywords. The tortoise trust article seems to show a very poor outlook and the article is from 1994. Most of the others are poor references, but they all seem to point in the same direction.
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/toreport.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~fridjian/
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/egyptian_tortoise
http://english.turkcebilgi.com/Egyptian+Tortoise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Tortoise
http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/egyptian-tortoise

On what are you basing your statement (I believe they are plentiful in Egypt and throughout their range.) on?

Steve

I think they're already functionally extinct. Already extinct in Egypt, the populations are scattered apart and the males and females are too far apart to produce the next generation. Captive specimens, IMO, are this species' only hope.

 

[-EJ]

nah... I don't think so.

It doesn't look like that's the case. Don't get me wrong... they still have a very limited range and they are still exploited. They are rare.

Try and find some articles by Omar Attum.

EJ,
I thought they were virtually extinct in Egypt as well. Maybe they're not.
Here is what I found with a quick web search using "egyptian tortoise extinct" as keywords. The tortoise trust article seems to show a very poor outlook and the article is from 1994. Most of the others are poor references, but they all seem to point in the same direction.
http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/toreport.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~fridjian/
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/egyptian_tortoise
http://english.turkcebilgi.com/Egyptian+Tortoise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Tortoise
http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/egyptian-tortoise

On what are you basing your statement (I believe they are plentiful in Egypt and throughout their range.) on?

Steve

I think they're already functionally extinct. Already extinct in Egypt, the populations are scattered apart and the males and females are too far apart to produce the next generation. Captive specimens, IMO, are this species' only hope.