Torts in the wild

[Huw]

Hello,

Does anyone know of any good places in Europe to see Tortoises in the wild?

I mean Mediterranean torts, not the big ones.

I'd really love to see them in their natural habitat.

Anyone heard of Tortoise Tours or suchlike?

Huw

 

[KevinGG]

Where do you live?

 

[Huw]

Liverpool. North of England.
Cold, wet and windy usually

 

[KevinGG]

Well, you won't find any in the U.K. You'll find Testudo species throughout Italy, and some in France and Spain. The Italian island, Sardinia, has the endangered Western Hermanns, marginateds, and I think, not positive, that Greeks may have been introduced to the island as well.

 

[Huw]

Thanks man. Sardinia sounds good!

 

[Anyfoot]

Liverpool. North of England.
Cold, wet and windy usually

Majorca has testudo species.

 

[Anyfoot]

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/mallorcaphotoblog.com/2009/04/27/the-mallorcan-land-tortoise/amp/

 

[Huw]

Nice one, ta

 

[Tom]

Send a message to @HermanniChris

He will have lots of ideas for you.

 

[Sterant]

If you know Andy Highfield of the Tortoise Trust - he will absolutely know where to go.

 

[Kori5]

Croatia . You'll love the coast, too.

 

[Huw]

Croatia . You'll love the coast, too.

Heard nice things about Croatia! And they have Tortoises too! Perfect!

 

[JoesMum]

The village des tortues at Gonfaron in southern France rescues local native torts. We were never fortunate enough to see them in the wild there though

Their website is in French, but if you use the Chrome browser it should offer to translate it for you
http://www.villagetortues.com/

Corsica is another option. They also have a "Village des Tortues " run by their National Parks department which is reintroducing Hermann's to the island
https://villagedestortues.wordpress.com/

 

[Huw]

The village des tortues at Gonfaron in southern France rescues local native torts. We were never fortunate enough to see them in the wild there though

/

Did you go looking for them JM? I do wonder how easy they are to spot.

 

[Anyfoot]

@Huw. Don't know how far your willing to travel or where you go on holidays. I guy who I work with until about 3 yrs ago used to go to Turkey every yr. At a resort called Hisaronu there is a pine forest going down a mountain to Oludeniz. This forest towards the end of the season(sep/Oct) is littered with adult and baby Greeks(I assume Greeks). He says there is literally 100's as you walk through the forest, babies and adults. If you are interested I can get the exact location.
He said "turn left at Rovers Return", and I said "let me find out if your interested first", but you get the idea, he can give me the exact location via the navigation of pubs.

 

[Huw]

@Huw. Don't know how far your willing to travel or where you go on holidays. I guy who I work with until about 3 yrs ago used to go to Turkey every yr. At a resort called Hisaronu there is a pine forest going down a mountain to Oludeniz. This forest towards the end of the season(sep/Oct) is littered with adult and baby Greeks(I assume Greeks). He says there is literally 100's as you walk through the forest, babies and adults. If you are interested I can get the exact location.
He said "turn left at Rovers Return", and I said "let me find out if your interested first", but you get the idea, he can give me the exact location via the navigation of pubs.

That's mad! I cant imagine what it must be like seeing 100s of Tortoises just wandering around!

My priority is finding wild Hermannis,but I'll keep Turkey in mind, thanks!

 

[JoesMum]

Did you go looking for them JM? I do wonder how easy they are to spot.

It's hard enough finding Joe in my garden. Finding Hermann's when they're ahead of me on knowing the lanscape is impossible... for me anyway

 

[Anyfoot]

That's mad! I cant imagine what it must be like seeing 100s of Tortoises just wandering around!

My priority is finding wild Hermannis,but I'll keep Turkey in mind, thanks!

I just spoke to my mate again, his idea of babies is not the same as mine, he says they are about 3" in size so I'm guessing yearlings and also adults.