Field Research of Population Density and Range

A telemonitoring project was conducted by two experienced scientists for the Marginated Tortoise in southern Hymettus with the placement of transmitters (provided by Pelargos NATURA) on four tortoises from a rehabilitation center (ANIMA), and another four from the study area. The transmitters were placed in mid-June 2021 and the monitoring of the animals continued until December 2022. This revealed the seasonality of the tortoises’ mobility (peaking in September and being lowest during extreme temperature periods, August and January) and the locations the Marginated Tortoises use for shelters (mainly bushes and shrubs). Given the fires in the monitoring areas, it was found that fires cause a mortality rate of over 20% of  the total population. It was also found that road mortality is another pressure factor for their population.