Nama padloper

Description

Homopus solus,commonly known as the Nama padloper or Berger's cape tortoise,is a species of tortoise in the Homopus ("padloper") genus.It is endemic to Namibia. The species is threatened by traffic on roads,habitat destruction,and poaching for the pet trade.As the trade in collected Homopus species is strictly illegal and any captive specimens are systematically registered in noncommercial studbooks in South Africa and Namibia,any commercial sale of Homopus tortoises is almost without exception strictly illegal.Another threat comes from introduced species,such as domestic dogs and pigs. The species does not generally survive well in captivity unless some effort is made to supply specimens with their natural food,that is,endemic plants from the Cape/Karoo regions