Elongated tortoise  (Indotestudo elongata)

Classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1), and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).

The elongated tortoise gets its common name from its distinctively long, somewhat narrow carapace (4). This shell is a caramel to dark yellowish-brown colour, with black blotches on each scute (2) (4). The head is pale yellow, except during the breeding season when both sexes develop a pink hue around the eyes and nostrils (2) (5). Males tend to be narrower than females, with shorter tails and a more concave plastron (indented underside of shell). The hind claws of the female are also markedly longer and more curved than those of the male, and are believed to be an adaptation to nest building by the female (2).

The elongated tortoise occurs in tropical southern and southeast Asia, and is found in parts of northeast India, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia (4) (6).

Typically inhabiting teak forests where the humidity is high, this tortoise has also been observed basking in the hot dry conditions of open ground in India (4) (5).

The elongated tortoise is most active at dawn and dusk, its large eyes well adapted to these low light conditions (5) (6). It is an omnivore, regularly feeding on slugs and worms in addition to green leafy material and fruit (5) (6).

Breeding occurs during the early part of the rainy season (5). Male elongated tortoises engage in very aggressive courtship behaviour, ramming the female and biting her vigorously around the head, neck, and front legs. The female will dig a flask shaped nest 15 to 20 centimetres deep with her back legs, in which she will lay her clutch of two to four eggs, before replacing the soil. Three clutches a season are laid when in captivity. The eggs of the elongated tortoise are large, and take 130 to 190 days to hatch (2).

This tortoise is under extreme pressure in most of its range due to it being widely harvested and sold on the Asian food markets (2). It is the most common tortoise to be shipped to the Chinese food markets from Vietnam (2); approximately 100,000 were shipped from Ho Chi Minh City in 1993 (5). Disregard for international conservation laws is apparent, with the trade in tortoises brisk, highly developed, and probably ignored by many border guards, customs officials, and airline personnel (5). Like many other tortoise species, the elongated tortoise is also sold as part of the pet trade, nearly 700 sold to the U.S. alone from 1989 to 1997, and is threatened by the habitat destruction that accompanies human commercial and residential expansion (6).

This species has been placed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates its legal international trade (2). Unfortunately, evident disregard for this law demonstrates that there is a desperate need for greater enforcement of protective legislation. Captive breeding programmes seems an essential conservation measure, and elongated tortoises fortunately have reproduced successfully in captivity (5) (6). Captive populations hedge against extinction, can be managed to maintain a varied gene pool, and provides possibilities for future reintroduction into the wild (6). However, before reintroduction of captive bred tortoises can be properly considered, the larger issues of international trade, disregard for protective legislation, and habitat degradation must be addressed (5).

For further information on the elongated tortoise see:

• Tortoise Trust:
  www.tortoisetrust.org
• Turtle Survival Alliance:
  www.turtlesurvival.org
• World Chelonian Trust:
  www.chelonia.org

• Carapace: in reptiles, the top shell of a turtle or tortoise. In arthropods (insects, crabs etc), the fused head and thorax (the part of the body located near the head) also known as ‘cephalothorax’.
• Omnivore: organism that feeds on both plants and animals.
• Plastron: in reptiles, the lower shell of a turtle or tortoise.
• Scute: an enlarged, bony, plate or scale on the carapace (the top shell of a turtle or tortoise).

1. IUCN Red List (May, 2008)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. World Chelonian Trust (October, 2005)
   http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/elongatacare.htm
3. CITES (October, 2005)
   http://www.cites.org
4. McCormick, B. (1992) The elongated tortoise, Indotestudo elongata. Tortuga Gazette, 28 (3): 1 - 3. Available at: http://www.tortoise.org/archives/elongata.html
5. Tortoise Trust (October, 2005)
   http://www.tortoisetrust.org
6. Turtle Survival Alliance (October, 2005)
   http://www.turtlesurvival.org