The Hermann's Tortoise lives all over southern Europe.  It like a warm environment with plenty of food and water.  This tortoise breeds in late spring and early summer.  The female lays 4-12 eggs at a time.  The eggs have a white shell and are about an inch long.  They begin to hatch near the end of the summer or in early fall depending on the temperature of the ground.

        In the 1800's hundreds of thousands of these tortoises were taken from their habitat from and sent to England to be sold as pets.  Because of the climate in England most of them died in short period of time.    Today  humans are destroying the Hermann's Tortoise habitat through excessive building.  The pet market for these tortoises has declined.  Many fires in this area have destroyed these animals because they are too slow to escape.

        Laws in some countries have been passed  laws to prohibit or limit the number of Hermann's Tortoises that can be captured for trade.  In other countries they have created reserves and natural parks to protect them.