Trending at the moment are the angulate tortoise; it’s mating season and they’re defending their patch against competitors. Truculence is a good descriptive fit for the males sweeping their territory. I was amused to find that as I crossed through one gutsy male’s area he came dashing over to investigate.
The males have neck long plates with which they flip their rivals and watching the chase, endurance and stamina come into play. One stumble and the game is over.
The loser once flipped has no means of righting itself and will die a slow death.
We’re noting that there is activity in the area which was affected by the fire last March in the Cape Point reserve. Good to see that they’re making a comeback – even though their shells are charred, they’re in feisty fettle.
Nature on the Edge 
Adorable little creatures
🙂 we’re lucky to have ten different species here. Some are endangered, such as the geometric and leopard, so it’s always a thrill to see them.
Lovely photos. I find myself wanting to turn that flipped one back over though. Did you resist that temptation?
I was wondering about the one flipped over, too. A slow death….
And then the crows come to feast and the insects, ants come to mop up …. But i foiled the process by rescuing this one and moving him further on. Not the ethical thing to do, i know – but their numbers are down after the fires. I feel guilty for messing with nature – now i worry about the imbalance of genders….
I’m glad you rescued him.
Reluctantly, I have to admit I did come to the rescue. But I carried it off way down the road before releasing it to live another day. With the recent fires their numbers have been reduced, so reasoned my guilty conscience in meddling with nature.
Well, I think you did the right thing in this case. Sounds like they need a little help. 🙂
I also vote for flipping when the other one isn’t looking.
Not a chance! They have radar to sidestep such sneaky tactics.
Oops initially misread your comment Stephen. Having trounced his opponent the winner went scuttling off to claim his female. Admit I did sneak in and rescue the loser. Moved him way down the road and out of the other’s range.
It often perturbs me that there has to be an alpha male at the expense of the life of another less fortunate one. In our society it would almost be like Hitlerism and the pure race syndrome, but thankfully grace is shown to the weaker and most vulnerable.
Yes it is perturbing, but isn’t it interesting that we tend to root for the less fortunate – such as the prey rather than the predator. I wondered about this fighting pair as the larger of the two was flipped. Surmised that the more nimble would make a better mate and maybe pass on better genes? Nature is good at balancing out numbers, but must admit that i did turn this loser back over – reckoning that their numbers have taken a battering from the fires.
What a beautiful little tortoise! Talk about survival of the fittest – a cruel end to the loser. 😦
This is brilliant stuff..
I would have flipped it over too! I don’t know, all these macho males fighting all the time!!!
I’m glad i’m not alone in supporting the underdog in this case :)! And there i was today watching ‘machismo’ male agamas (lizards) doing their ‘push-up’ routine. All the way down to those six-pack abs!
I was fascinated by the shot of the tortoise with the charred shell – it is clearly an amazing material to protect its owner from roasting inside it.Would they try to bury themselves in the event of a fire as presumably they can’t run away from a fast-moving blaze, or would they just withdraw into the shell and hope for the best? Or might they have been hibernating?
Jane thanks for your comments. It is an interesting subject – the survival of species which have co-evolved with the vegetation type and the fire regime. The slower moving reptiles can survive by taking shelter under rocks or in underground burrows. I’ve also been fascinated to see that neighbouring tortoise are gravitating into the burned areas to feed on the young shoots. So I’m guessing that they transfer across into new pastures. I think it also depends on the heat of the fire as to whether their shells are durable protection; the wind driven fires are more intense so many charred remains. In a previous devastating fire (in 2000) it was estimated that between 75,000 – 200,000 tortoise perished. One would think that the population would crash. I haven’t been able to find any stats on how quickly they can rebreed and restore numbers, i rather suspect there has been a dramatic decline. Am keen to find out more and will post when i have any further information.
I agree with your decision and method for rescuing the flipped fellow.