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Distribution: The African helmeted turtle, Pelomedusa subrufa, is the most wide spread species of fresh water turtle in Africa found throughout all of sub-Sahara Africa as well as western and southern Madagascar. It inhabits both temporary and permanent bodies of water (marshes, swamps, ponds, creeks, rain ditches), and watering holes sharing these habitats with everything from crocodiles to large mammals. There are reports of Pelomedusa cleaning the parasites off of hippos, which I am fairly certain occurs considering they also use them as basking sites (see the video below). It should be noted that Pelomedusa are seldom found in heavily forested areas. It might be said that the best way to provide proper housing in captivity for an animal is to observe it first in its natural environment and then try and "replicate" those conditions as accurately as possible. The windows below are of Pelomedusa in their natural environment. These however are only snapshots of the daily/annual cycles of a single environment in which Pelomedusa inhabit. If you would like to observe the natural cycle 24/7 year round follow the link to the Nkorho Africam, you'll be amazed at what happens in a day in the life of these turtles. |
Range map of Pelomedusa subrufa |
Habitat |
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The EMYSystem has additional distributional maps of most of the world's turtle species excluding sea turtles. For locale specific distribution maps follow the banner link. |
I am particularly interested in the above video showing a beautiful young P.s. nigra caught along side a road in the Djuma Game Reserve, Kruger Park, South Africa. |
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