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Tortoise & Elephant Ashtray
16.5cm
427-401 ...... 2800 USD
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The curve of the underside of the shell differentiates male and female Leopard tortoise. Each of the Mavros tortoise sculptures has exquisite detail, including the underside.
There are few animals whose discovery generates such excitement amongst children, than that of a tortoise. Similarly causing great excitement amongst lion cubs, who will play with one for hours in the hope that the tortoise will put its head out of its shell. It never does!
Found in all shapes and sizes and each as endearing as the next, my children would often bring back tortoises found whilst on their wanderings in the veldt.
Two species of tortoise are found in Zimbabwe - the Leopard tortoise and Bell’s Hinged tortoise. The Leopard tortoise is the larger of the two and is found most abundantly in dry lowveld areas. Its diet consists mainly of grass, with succulents, fruit and splinters of bone to supplement this.
They hibernate from mid-May to mid-September, our winter time. The under shell of the male is cleverly concave to help it ‘cover’ the female when mating. In the wet season, the female lays up to five clutches of a dozen or so eggs, in holes that she digs in the moist earth. The eggs take up to fourteen months to incubate.
The tortoise is known as “Kamba” by the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Tortoises found in the rainy season, laboriously crossing roads, are often taken home by travellers to become family pets. They are, however, great escape artists and usually disappear after a while.
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