With brilliant yellow lines radiating from the centre of each shell plate, radiated tortoises are definitely one of the world's most beautiful tortoises. Their breeding season can be quite a noisy affair as rival males try their best to roll each other over and out of action. The winner gets to mate with a female, after he has checked her out by sniffing her rear, no less. Radiated tortoises occur naturally only in the extreme southern dry thorn and tropical forests of Madagascar. Critically endangered, they are under pressure from habitat loss, poaching for food and exploitation in the pet trade.

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