After overcoming the hardship of illegal trade and captivity, 20 leopard tortoises finally reclaimed their freedom and returned home to the wild Eastern Cape this Heritage Day!
Eastern Cape, South Africa (28 September 2026) – This past Heritage Day, 20 leopard tortoises woke up in the Eastern Cape to the sounds, tastes and smells of home!
This comes after each of them was taken in by the caring hands of the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital (JWVH) team. Some were admitted by people who recognised that a wild animal does not belong in a back garden. Others were confiscated by law enforcement after being found in cruel or illegal possession, or caught up in the illicit wildlife trade.
“Whatever brought them through our doors, each deserved the same thing: the chance to be a wild tortoise again,” JWVH shares.
“Our team cared for them until they were healthy, strong and ready for release. But rehabilitation isn’t simply about getting an animal well enough to go back into the wild. Where they return matters too.”
The recently released tortoises each underwent genetic testing by SANBI, which revealed that all 20 belonged to the southern genetic clade of leopard tortoises, tracing their natural origin to a specific area of the Eastern Cape.
Getting the 20 rather large leopard tortoises from Johannesburg back where they belong, however, required a village: the monthly supporters, the wild melons collectors, those who donated kennels and Aunty Cheryl, who arrived with bags and bags of fresh grass and succulents for the fussier patients. Corporate supporters, too, didn’t only arrive with funding, but with scrubbing brushes, willing hands and plenty of enthusiasm when the tortoises needed final health checks and preparation for an early-morning departure.
Once microchipped, which will allow each of these tortoises to remain permanently identifiable after release, the precious, and rather heavy, cargo was safely flown from Johannesburg to the Eastern Cape.
At the other end, the Conservation Landscapes Institute was waiting to help complete the final part of a journey that, for some of these tortoises, had begun years before.
From veterinarians, geneticists and conservation ecologists to law-enforcement officers, donors, drivers, pilots, cargo teams, corporate supporters and the people protecting the land to which these animals returned – so many compassionate people played a part in rewriting these creatures’ story.
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“Our natural heritage isn’t only something we inherit. It is something entrusted to us. The wild places, animals and ecosystems that make South Africa extraordinary are ours to protect – so that one day, they can be inherited by our children and theirs.”
And just like that, 20 leopard tortoises are back where they belong because a remarkable number of people chose to care, to help and to work together. Twenty little pieces of South Africa’s natural heritage are home!
Sources: Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital
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