strength than non-food plants. When eating the tortoise uses a grab and pull method that tends to be used more in larger herbivores. They take small bites that increase surface area to be exposed to enzymes making digestion easier. Behavior They are said to aestivate in the months of June through September, or when their natural environment is not normal, or when in captivity. Little is known about their reproductive behaviour. When the female is ready to lay eggs, she digs a hole in the ground and covers it with grass or other vegetation. The geometric tortoise tends to feed during cooler parts of the morning and afternoon. They tend to be shy and seek shelter when they notice observers. Threats and conservation This species is one of the rarest land tortoises in the world, classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. In addition to its Red List status, the geometric tortoise is now protected under international law and listed on Appendix I of CITES, prohibiting commercial international trade in the species. With South Africa being home to the most tortoise species in the world, it is not surprising that it has the world's rarest tortoise species as well. Protecting these tortoises is primarily the job of the country's conservation officials. These officials work with nature preserves to help keep the tortoise's status of endangered from changing to extinct. Its habitat is under constant threat of destruction and fragmentation as a result of, frequent fires, increase in the predation rates, and an increase in vegetation not native to the region. Its environment is now reduced to thirty-one habitat fragments which include seven reserves. The conservation authority of Western Cape province has made the conservation of the geometric tortoise one of its highest priorities. The areas that are left survive primarily because they are in less optimal farming areas. Cape Nature Conservation is one of the four provincial nature preserves that the tortoises reside in. The tortoise is marked as a high priority for the nature preserve, so they continually monitor the population of the animals to track their conservation efforts. Cape Nature Conservation believes that tracking the population of a certain special is an early alert system to help determine which animals are more critical than others and helps determine what the animals thrive from and what hurts them. Observation of the population is the foundation to any