[3] In 1779 the English illustrator John Frederick Miller included a hand-coloured plate of the African spurred tortoise in his Icones animalium et plantarum and coined the binomial name Testudo sulcata.

[6] The African spurred tortoise is native to the Sahara Desert and the Sahel, a transitional ecoregion of semiarid grasslands, savannas, and thorn shrublands found in the countries of Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen and possibly in Somalia, Algeria, Benin, and Cameroon.

[1][6] They are found on hills, stable dunes, and flat areas with shrubs and high grass.

[6] On the other hand tortoise eggs are sought after by many predators such as numerous species of lizards and potentially mongooses.

Too much protein will lead to the tortoise growing too fast, which can result in metabolic bone disease, a condition that is characterized by distortion of the skeleton and weakened bone structure and can lead to lameness, lower quality of life, and/or shortened lifespan.

They mostly eat dead goats and zebras that have been pushed downstream during the wet season on the rivers and streams next to which tortoises settle.

[6] Copulation takes place right after the rainy season, during the months from September through November with breeding actions occur in the morning.

[6] Sixty days after mating, the female begins to roam looking for suitable nesting sites.

[7] The work of digging the nest may take up to five hours; the speed with which it is dug seems to be dependent upon the relative hardness of the ground.

[7] After the eggs are laid, the female fills in the nest, taking an hour or more to fully cover them all.

[14] Studies suggest that African spurred tortoises exist in approximately 16.7% of the area where they had previously been found.

These studies also show an average of 1-5 tortoises per site canvassed which indicates a rapid decline of the species.

[14] The main source of resource competition African spurred tortoises face is from cattle which also graze on grass.

[6] Other threats that the species face are habitat loss due to climate change and predators which hunt the tortoises or their eggs.

Most of these reintroduction programs and captive colonies can be found in protected national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

African Spurred Tortoises have a lifespan of around 70 years, which means that they are a long term commitment.

[17] The ideal enclosure for the African spurred tortoise is an outdoor pen where they will be able to construct a burrow.

[17] They require high-fiber diets (grasses and hays) as many "wet" vegetables can cause health problems in large quantities.

Red leaf lettuce, prickly pear cactus pads, hibiscus leaves, hay from various grasses and dandelions are some of the better foods to make up the bulk of their diet.

Parsley, broccoli, kale and spinach should be excluded from their diets entirely, as they are too high in calcium oxalate.