Wild Sulcata Pics

[Tom]

Our friend Tomas Diagne sent me these pics and gave me permission to post them here. These are wild sulcatas actually IN the wild. I don't have any details about size or location. He just sent the pics. I'm assuming these pictures are taken in Senegal, but I could be wrong. Enjoy!

 

[knight_visionn]

so cool

 

[kanalomele]

Fan-freakin-tastic! Thanks to you and Tomas both for sharing!

 

[sibi]

Wow! What a treat. I wonder if they were washed, would their shell color be yellowish like the ones we usually see? It just seems that they are much darker than the captive species.

 

[N2TORTS]

Very nice post to view .....and thank you to your friend for the great pics! ....
Another job well done Tom .... thanks for sharing~

 

[Steve_McQueen]

Do those look slightly pyramided to anyone else? Could they have been captive at one point, and then released like Tom has mentioned in the past? Great pictures, either way!

 

[bigred]

Great pictures

 

[Dizisdalife]

Thanks for posting these Tom. And, thanks to Tomas.

 

[mctlong]

Nice! Thanks for sharing.

 

[mainey34]

Great pictures..very educational..thank you for sharing....

 

[yazzy1012]

Awesome pictures. They do look slightly different. To me their shells look to be in great condition! Only difference I really notice is the top front of their shells sticks up more. Interesting!

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Loving those pictures ... thank you Tomas ... and Tom ... for sharing them. They look so dark compared to the captive kept. Almost like a gigantic desert tortoise in that last picture. Look how cute that face is. LOVE.

 

[Big B]

Awesome pictures way too cool.

 

[Yvonne G]

Just look at the texture of the dirt in that first excavation picture. That has to be some seriously hard dirt to come out in little rocks like that.

And look at all the dried grass for them to eat.

Thank you so much. Its always a pleasure to see how tortoises live in the wild.

 

[Clementine]

Fantastic pics! Thanks for sharing!

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

That's awesome!

 

[Tom]

These were obviously taken in the dry season. I'd sure like to see what it looks like when that is all green. Tomas told me that during the rainy season there are really no tortoises to see, especially babies, because the growth is so heavy. They just disappear.

Do you see the little black dots on the ground in the second pic? For those who don't work with exotic hoofstock, those are ungulate pellets. That means there is some grazing going on there. A field researcher in Leopard tortoise territory told a friend of mine that ungulate feces makes up a substantial portion of the diet for hatchling leopard tortoises. I wonder if its the same for sulcatas. I intend to try to find out in about 14 months.

---

Do those look slightly pyramided to anyone else? Could they have been captive at one point, and then released like Tom has mentioned in the past? Great pictures, either way!

You have a keen eye my friend! I noticed in two of the pics a big transponder glued to the back of their shell. They are covered with dirt and if I wasn't looking for it I might not have seen it. At least those two animals must be some of Tomas' released animals. I recognize the transponders and their location from pics in Tomas' TTPG conference presentations. Those are the transponders that have given him the data for his new book that I am anxiously awaiting. They record temps, locations, how far they travel and when, etc. Neat stuff.

 

[wellington]

These kinds of tort pics are the best. Nothing like a wild animal, in the wild. The coloring is so much darker. Do you think,that is their actual coloring or just all the dirt build up? I'm guessing probably dirt.
Thanks for sharing and let Tomas know how much we appreciate him letting you share them with us.

 

[Shannon and Jason]

O I very much enjoyed the pics as everyone else has said thank you and Tomas can't wait to read the book

 

[Mookins]

Wow! What a treat. I wonder if they were washed, would their shell color be yellowish like the ones we usually see? It just seems that they are much darker than the captive species.

i thought this too, fab pics thank you indeed xx