Terrel saw out look at you look at you
always your little legs going there you
did you see support
no matter where the brave wilderness
team and I have traveled we are always
on the lookout for turbos in fact, I have
caught or worked with a turtle in every
the location we have visited aside from
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Alaska and that's only because there are
no turtles in Alaska South Africa is not
exactly the environment where you would
expect to find a photic turtle species
and while they do have a few it's the
land dwelling tortoises that are far
more plentiful did you really see a
tortoise yeah huh I just randomly film
in a driving b-roll shot you saw
tortoise what kind I think it might be a
little leopard tortoise right there oh
yeah sweet okay how about that forget a
b-roll shot and we have seen a little
tiny leopard tortoise look at you saw
out
look at you look at you buddy
look guys way too close to the road it's
a leopard tortoise either just crossed
or is attempting to cross you said this
camera right down there for you I see
you I see you I want to be very very
gentle picking him up because I do not
want him to pee which is a defensive
mechanism of these tortoises there we go
look at you oh he's very warm out here
soaking up heat from the side of the
road and also the Sun see there's cars
sinking by it's a very dangerous place
for a tortoise where do they get the
name leopard tortoise just look at the
design of the carapace looks just like
the fur of a leopard now this is the
actually believe it or not the largest
tortoise species here in South Africa
this one is considered tiny they can
weigh as much as 80 pounds these are
giants look at that domed carapace I
know you're scared buddy little stumpy
legs and a very cute face if it decides
to show us its face that's so cool our
first official tortoise of the trip Wow
actually pretty heavy it's a very very
dense animal they get all their moisture
from the food that they eat and they're
out here feasting on oh you're gonna
come out for us who's thinking about it
the grasses leaves succulents and
occasionally will even take insects and
other small little animals if the
opportunity presents itself and actually
leopard tortoises love to eat hyena poop
that hyena poop is high in calcium which
helps keeps these tortoises shells and
their platelets strong you notice when
it tucks into its shell it has armored
front legs you see that all of these
legs are covered with very dense scales
and that keeps it protected now they
don't have many predators but a tortoise
of this size could be eaten by something
like a hyena their jaws are strong
enough to crush through the shell but
once this turtle reaches its adult stage
the
only threat that it has is humans and
this roadway is a perfect example many
tortoises are unfortunately struck by
cars and while they are rather speedy
for a species not faster than a car so
what we're going to do is just safely
move this little tortoise off into the
underbrush here in the exact same
direction that it was traveling and
hopefully in the future it will avoid
crossing roadways there you go now
you're coming out of your shell for us
how cute are you that is so cool
here's one thing I love about the
leopard tortoise look at these sharp
keels at the back and you'll notice how
it branches down over those hind legs
just another defense mechanism against
any potential predator they have an
unhinged shell maybe thinking to
yourself well it kind of looks like a
box turtle let me tip it up for you
there you see the plastron not hinged at
all but slightly curves up which allows
for the legs to perfectly tuck in
covered in dense scales and they pull
those legs in to block the face just
like that you see that now nothing can
get to it even me sticking my hand in
there what he doesn't want to do is try
to bite if you bite something then your
head gets extended out and you stand the
chance of being eaten so it's all about
tucking into your shell as we know
turtles and tortoises throughout the
course of their life grow with the shell
sometimes people think well the turtles
hop from shell to shell no they do not
other than the gopher tortoise and the
Galapagos tortoise this is only the
third tortoise species that we have
featured on the brave wilderness Channel
as we learn from the Galapagos tortoise
episode
technically all tortoises are Turtles
always here little eggs go in there let
me give you some support
whoo that car was going fast
I'll get your heart racing hit me
nervous what are you doing out here bud
little tortoise you know that it's not
safe to cross the road right how about
that no matter what location we visit I
always manage to get a turtle in front
of the cameras I'm coyote Peterson be
brave stay wild
you'll see on the next adventure all
right buddy the leopard tortoise is one
of South Africa's most iconic reptiles
yet their existence is constantly a
threat due to the presence of man-made
structures such as roads sadly many of
these beautiful animals lose their lives
to car strike every year and it's not
just the roads in South Africa but
roadways systems around the world if you
see one of our hard shell friends
crossing the road and choose to be a
good turtle samaritan by helping it
quickly cross your kindness may ensure
that a teeny tiny turtle grows up to be
a wise old elder of the reptile kingdom
if you want to learn more about helping
turtles cross the road make sure to go
back and watch the episode of Dragon
Tales where I show you the safe way to
move a snapping turtle without losing
your fingers and don't forget subscribe
so you can join me in the crew on our
next location see you look this way and
you see a swamp or a pond or a lake you
think yourself well there's water over
there shouldn't I put the turtle back in
the water the turtle knows exactly what
it's doing it is made the decision to go
this way because it's likely a female
headed to lay her eggs
