Family

• Testudinidae

Lifespan

• Average age in Captivity: up to 22 years
• Record age in Captivity: 26 years

Size

• Average carapace length:  about 8 inches long
  

Range

• Western Africa
  
• Senegal eastward to Cameroon and Central African Republic
• Skirts around the tropical forest regions
  

Habitat

• Savanna Woodland
• Grasslands
• Areas with distinct wet and dry seasons

Diet

• Omnivorous
• In Wild: fallen fruit, sugar cane, fungi, grasses, insects, millipedes, leaves and snails
• Zoo: Greens, mixed vegetables, mixed produce, meal-worms 

Reproduction

• Oviparous, meaning they lay eggs.
• Nesting usually occurs in May
• Clutch size is up to 10 eggs
• It takes 90 days up to 1 year for the eggs to hatch
• Hatchlings are 4 cm long when they hatch
  

Special Advantages

• Hinge-back tortoises have a special leathery hinge on the carapace which they will use when threatened to close the shell tightly closed.  This closes the spaces their legs and tail occupy normally, to help prevent predators from being able to get to their soft bodies.
• These tortoises have anal sacs where they can store water for times of drought.

Conservation Status

• IUCN: Not Evaluated
  
• CITES:  Appendix II
  

Sources

1. CITES Appendices. Accessed December 2012. www.cites.org
2. IUCN Red List. Accessed December 2012. www.iucnredlist.org