Tent tortoise Tent tortoise The tent tortoise ("Psammobates tentorius") is a species of tortoise and one of three members of the genus, "Psammobates". Known locally as the Karoo tent tortoise, this highly variable species is found in the Karoo and semi-desert regions of Southern Africa. The Karoo tent tortoise occurs at very low densities throughout the Karoo and other semi-desert areas of southern Africa, extending from central Namibia almost to the southern coast of South Africa. Within this range, its population is very sparse and individuals are normally rare and widely separated. The species is also increasingly rare due to habitat destruction
Karoo which is Afrikaans for Little Karoo. The Great Karoo straddles the 30° S parallel on the west of the continent, in a similar position to other semidesert areas on earth, north and south of the equator. It is furthermore in the rainfall shadow of the Cape Fold Mountains along the western coastline. The western "Lower Karoo" (the Tankwa Karoo and Moordenaarskaroo) contain remnants of the Cape Fold Mountains (e.g. the Witteberg and Anysberg Mountains) which give it a moderate hilly appearance, but further east, the Lower Karoo becomes a monotonously flat plain. The "Upper Karoo" has been intruded by dolerite