Harmless · Popular pet · Native to eastern and southern Africa

Leopard tortoise

Stigmochelys pardalis (Bell, 1828)

The only species in its genus
Data updated November 2026

Adult leopard tortoise walking through dry grass, showing a tall domed shell blotched with black on yellow-tan
Fig. 1 — Adult in savanna grass. The tall, steep-sided shell is spotted and streaked with black.
Close view of a leopard tortoise's head and front legs covered in large scales
Fig. 2 — The upper jaw is hooked, and the front legs carry large, spiny scales.

At a glance

A big, high-domed tortoise of African savanna, scrub and grassland. In Africa only the sulcata grows larger. It grazes on grasses and succulents, hisses as it pulls into its shell, and can live for many decades. Captive-bred animals are widely kept as pets.

01

Identification

Leopard tortoises have a tall, domed shell with steep sides and a small notch at the front. Young animals are bright yellow with black spots that run together. As they age the shell darkens and becomes streaked and blotched, and very old adults can be almost plain dark gray with a yellow or tan head. Tortoises from drier regions tend to be paler. The underside is yellowish, often with dark streaks and spots.

  1. 01High, steep dome. There is no small scute at the center of the front edge, and the top scutes are sometimes raised into low pyramids.
  2. 02Black spots and streaks. The “leopard” pattern is boldest in young tortoises and fades or darkens with age.
  3. 03Scaly legs, long male tail. Large spiny scales cover the front legs, which have five claws; the hind feet have four. Males have much longer tails than females.

Commonly confused with

Sulcata (African spurred) tortoises grow even larger. Their shell is plain sandy tan to brown with no black spotting, and they have large, pointed spurs on the back of each thigh.

02

Size

06 in12 in18 in24 in Typical adult shell · about 16 in (40 cm)

Most adults have a shell about 12 to 20 inches (30–51 cm) long. In East African savanna, adults reach 30–45 cm and close to 13 kg (29 lb), and big animals can reach about 20 kg (45 lb). Exceptional giants have topped 40 kg (88 lb) with shells about 75 cm (30 in) long. Females grow larger and faster than males. Hatchlings are only 4–5 cm (about 2 in) long and weigh 23–50 grams.

03

Range & habitat

Leopard tortoise grazing in open savanna with thorn bushes
Fig. 3 — Savanna, thorn scrub and grassland are typical leopard tortoise country.

Leopard tortoises are found across the savannas of eastern and southern Africa: from southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia south through East Africa to South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Karoo, and west to southern Angola and Namibia. They are habitat generalists, living in grassland, thorn scrub, dry and moist savanna, thicket and fynbos, from sea level to above 2,900 m (9,500 ft). In arid areas they stay where water is available. Released pets have also started populations outside the natural range, including South Africa’s southwestern Cape and Lesotho.

04

Diet & predators

Leopard tortoises graze and browse on plants. They have no teeth; instead they cut food with a sharp, horny beak and swallow small bites whole. Grass shoots, succulents such as prickly pear, flowers and fallen fruit make up most of the diet. They also gnaw old bones and eat carnivore droppings for calcium, and they still need to drink. By dropping seeds in their dung under bushes, they help plants spread.

Feeds on

  • Grasses and grass shoots
  • Succulents, including prickly pear
  • Fallen fruit and flowers
  • Old bones and carnivore dung (for calcium)

Preyed on by

  • Rock monitors (young tortoises)
  • Storks and crows (young tortoises)
  • Small carnivores (young tortoises)
  • Ants (eggs)
Prickly pear cactus pads and fruit
Food — prickly pear.
Rock monitor lizard on a boulder
Predator — rock monitor (young tortoises).

05

Behavior & seasons

Leopard tortoises live alone except when mating and spend most of the day eating and resting. When disturbed they pull into the shell and hiss as air is pushed out. The big dome holds large lungs, so they can float and swim. Home ranges depend on food and shelter, and females range more widely than males. Tortoises moved away from home have walked 25–50 km (15–30 miles) to get back.

They are most active in the wet summer months, when food is plentiful, and shelter in thick bush during the midday heat. Activity drops in the dry season. In southern Africa they start looking for winter shelter around late May, using burrows, rock piles or fallen logs.

06

Reproduction

In southern Africa the breeding season runs from about September to April. Males are combative, ramming and butting rivals and pushing females around, and mating is noisy. The female digs a flask-shaped nest about 25 cm (10 in) deep with her hind feet, wetting the soil to soften it, and lays round, hard-shelled eggs. Clutches hold up to about 24 eggs depending on her size, and large females can lay several clutches a season. Incubation is long: about 8 to 15 months in the wild, depending on temperature. Warm nests produce mostly females. If the ground is hard, hatchlings may wait underground until rain softens it.

07

Conservation

The leopard tortoise is widespread and not considered threatened; it is assessed as Least Concern, and there is no sign that its range is shrinking. Local threats include veld fires, falls on rocky ground and collection for food in some areas.

Released pets are a real problem. They can breed with wild tortoises outside their home region and spread disease, so wild leopard tortoises should never be taken as pets and captive ones should never be let go.

08

In captivity

Captive-bred leopard tortoises are popular pets, but they grow into large, long-lived animals that need a lot of room. In warm, dry climates they do best outdoors in a secure, predator-proof pen planted with shrubs, with rocks, shade and shelters. Indoors they need a large, open-topped, well-ventilated enclosure with a warm end and a cool end and a hide at each. They are happiest kept alone or in small single-sex groups.

  • Heat and light. A basking spot of about 32–40°C (90–104°F), a cool end around 25–28°C (77–82°F) and nights no colder than about 22–24°C (72–75°F). Full-spectrum light with UVB for about 12 hours a day; time outdoors in summer is ideal. Keep humidity low to moderate.
  • Substrate. A soil or soil-and-sand mix. Avoid small loose bits such as bark chips or walnut shell, and don’t feed on loose substrate.
  • Food. A high-fiber diet built on grasses and grass hay, plus pesticide-free weeds such as dandelion, plantain and sow thistle, and spineless prickly pear pads. Avoid fruit, which is too sugary.
  • Water. A shallow dish of fresh water large enough to soak in, changed daily.

See a reptile vet if your tortoise stops eating, has runny eyes or nose, breathes with its mouth open, or has a soft or damaged shell. More pet care guides

Keep reading

Sources

Data updated November 2026 · How we build these pages