Waar om die Leopard Tortoise in Suid-Afrika te sien

Hosts on Spekboom have recorded the Leopard Tortoise at stays in or beside Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Sabi Sand Game Reserve, Kruger National Park, Gondwana Game Reserve, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park and Welgevonden Game Reserve and other reserves. A record means a host has seen it on the property or nearby, which makes these the places to base yourself; it is never a guarantee of a sighting on any given day.

The Leopard Tortoise is most recorded in Western Cape (30% of records), Eastern Cape (16% of records), Limpopo (15% of records), based on 6,814 iNaturalist observations. 27 places to stay on Spekboom in South Africa have recorded the Leopard Tortoise on site or nearby.

The Leopard Tortoise is recorded throughout the year, so no month is the wrong month to look for it. For the parks where hosts record it most, these are the best seasons they give. Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park: Aug-Oct, flowers, Mar-May; Sabi Sand Game Reserve: year-round, dry season May-Sep optimal; Kruger National Park: Apr-Sep; Gondwana Game Reserve: Sep-Apr, flowers Aug-Oct. In the dry months animals concentrate at water and the grass is short.

The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape. It is the only member of the genus Stigmochelys, although in the past it was commonly placed in Geochelone. This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semi-arid, thorny to grassland habitats.