Tortoises and Indigenous Animals: Know the Law

South African tortoises are protected species. Picking one up from the roadside and keeping it in your garden is, in most provinces, an offence — and it is also usually bad for the tortoise.

The legal position

Indigenous tortoises and most indigenous wildlife are protected under national biodiversity legislation and provincial ordinances. Keeping, transporting, buying or selling them generally requires a permit from the relevant provincial conservation authority, and permits are not issued casually for pets. Penalties can include fines and confiscation.

The rules differ province to province. Check with your provincial conservation department — Cape Nature, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Gauteng or Limpopo environmental affairs departments and their equivalents — rather than assuming.

Why it matters biologically

Wild tortoise populations are declining sharply from habitat loss, fires, road deaths and collection. Every removed animal matters. Tortoises are also long-lived and slow-breeding, so populations recover very slowly.

Captive tortoises are frequently kept badly by well-meaning people. They need specific diets — not lettuce and tomato, which cause severe deficiency and shell deformity — appropriate UVB exposure, correct temperature ranges and space to graze. Metabolic bone disease from bad husbandry is extremely common and irreversible.

If you find one

Leave it alone. If it is crossing a road, move it in the direction it was already heading, off the road, and let it go. Do not take it home, do not relocate it to a different area, and do not put it in a garden. Tortoises have home ranges and moving them often kills them.

If you already have one

Contact your provincial conservation authority or a registered wildlife rehabilitation centre. In many cases you can regularise the situation or surrender the animal without penalty if you approach them yourself. A tortoise that has lived in captivity for years often cannot simply be released, which is why the professionals need to be involved.

The wider point

The same applies to indigenous birds, chameleons, snakes, bushbabies and monkeys. Keeping indigenous wildlife as pets is regulated for good reasons, and the trade in them causes real harm. If you want a reptile, captive-bred exotic species with proper permits and documented origin are the responsible route — ask the seller for their permit and paperwork.