Co-coordinators – Natalia Savosina, Safari Park, Gelendzhik, Russia
The spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca L., 1758) is one of the most widely distributed species of tortoises, with historical range spreading across North Africa, Southern Europe, and Western Asia. The spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) is listed as Vulnerable (VU A1cd, version 2.3) on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species v. 2.3) and included in CITES Appendix II.
Eleven subspecies of Testudo graeca are currently recognized, with each of them occupying its part of the global range. Importantly, the currently recognized international classification does not include two taxa found in Russia: Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise Testudo graeca nikolskii (Ckhikvadze et Tuniyev, 1986) and Testudo graeca pallasi (Сhkhikvadze et Bakradze, 2002). However, in the Russian Federation, these subspecies are recognized as valid and are considered as conservation priorities; both subspecies are included in the Category I (Endangered) in the Red Book of the Russian Federation (2021).
T. g. nikolskii inhabits exclusively a narrow strip (up to 30 km in maximum width) of the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Abkhazia.
In 2007, Russia’s first rehabilitation center for Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise was established at the Safari Park in Gelendzhik, within the species natural range on the southern slope of the Markotkh Ridge. As of the beginning of 2026, the center's enclosures housed 11 mature individuals and more than 200 captive bred tortoises of various ages. The center plans to use its 5,000 m² adaptation enclosure to develop and refine techniques for preparing young animals for the release into natural habitats, a process that includes a mandatory pre-release veterinary examination for the confirmation of epizootic safety of the released animals. The program is aimed at the conservation of the subspecies in Krasnodar Krai of Russia.
The goal of the programme:
Creation of genetically representative, sustainable breeding population of the Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise in captivity within an optimal area of the subspecies range on the southern slope of the Markotkh Ridge with the aim of releasing captive bred offspring into the natural habitats for the supplementation of the existing population and establishment of new populations of the subspecies in the wild.
Programme objectives:
- Developing techniques for the long-term (multi-year) management of the captive population of Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise with confirmed disease-free status, under conditions imitating the natural environment as close as feasible.
- Conducting comprehensive veterinary examinations to rule out the risk of introducing pathogens into the wild population.
- Developing methods of the tortoise egg incubation and rearing of offspring under controlled environment, followed by the acclimatization of the offspring born in the current year to the conditions imitating natural habitats of the subspecies.
- Establishing working relationship with the management of the strictly protected areas located within historical range of the Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise (Utrish State Nature Reserve, Management of Strictly Protected Areas of Krasnodar Krai, Sochi Natural Park, and Bichvinta-Miuseri Strict Nature Reserve in the Republic of Abkhazia) for the selection of optimal sites for potential releases of tortoises into the wild.
- Exchange of experience with other projects of rehabilitation and release of spur-thighed tortoises into the wild implemented in Russia (including projects implemented in Anapa, Sochi, and Dagestan) and other countries.
- Preparation and implementation of measures for releasing captive bred offspring into the wild in optimal release sites in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation.
- In prospect: maintaining existing depleted populations and establishing new populations of the species in selected areas in the wild and long-term population monitoring aimed at the assessment of effectiveness of the selected method of conservation of habitats and numbers of the Nikolsky’s spur-thighed tortoise.
