---
title: "Leopard Tortoise"
description: "Stigmochelys pardalis — Rettili. The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape Province."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/leopard-tortoise
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Leopard Tortoise

> Stigmochelys pardalis — Rettili. The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape Province.

- Scientific name: *Stigmochelys pardalis*
- Category: `reptiles` (Rettili)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi), `zoo` (Zoo e animali domestici), `savanna` (Savana)
- iNaturalist observations: 10533
- Wikidata: [Q640955](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q640955)
- iNaturalist taxon: [40092](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/40092)

## Names

- en: Leopard Tortoise
- de: Pantherschildkröte
- es: Tortuga leopardo
- fr: Tortue léopard
- nl: Panterschildpad
- pt: Tartaruga-leopardo
- pl: Żółw lamparci

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (7036), KE (601), TZ (481), NA (468), BW (394), ZW (198), ET (103), SZ (80), ZM (50), MZ (42), SO (22), MW (18)

## Summary

The leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape Province. It is the only extant member of the genus Stigmochelys, although in the past, it was commonly placed in Geochelone. This tortoise is a grazing species that favors semiarid, thorny to grassland habitats. In both very hot and very cold weather, it may dwell in abandoned fox, jackal, or aardvark burrows. The leopard tortoise does not dig other than to make nests in which to lay eggs. Given its propensity for grassland habitats, it grazes…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_tortoise

## Photo

![Leopard Tortoise](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/leopard-tortoise/medium.jpg)

Photo: Marius Burger · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/139132469

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/leopard-tortoise?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).