Kinixys spekii
Silhouette: Andrew A. Farke · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Speke's hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys spekii), also known commonly as Speke's hingeback tortoise, is a species of turtle in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to Africa. The specific name, spekii, is in honor of English explorer John Hanning Speke.
K. spekii has an elongated carapace, up to 20 cm (7.9 in) in straight length, which is distinctly flattened, allowing it to seek refuge in rock crevices and under logs (the co-occurring pancake tortoise is even more flattened). Its carapace has a weak, disrupted medial keel, and posterior marginals that are neither strongly serrated nor reverted. This species has a well-developed hinge at the rear end of the upper part of its shell, permitting the protection of its rear legs after they have been retracted. The male has a notably longer tail than the female of this species, and the tails end in a spine. Females possess a flat plastron, yet males have a more concave one.
Speke's hinge-back tortoise is found in East Africa from Uganda and Kenya south to Eswatini, next to Mozambique and Zululand. Its range extends westwards as far as the coast of Angola. K. spekii... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 3 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
No species of the same family or order lives in Liwonde National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Speke's Hinge-back Tortoise sighting in Liwonde National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 12 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Speke's Hinge-back Tortoise in Liwonde National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March–October and December–January, the lowest months. That is one of Liwonde National Park's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain against almost none in July.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Speke's Hinge-back Tortoise sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Speke's Hinge-back Tortoise sightings, Liwonde National Park ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Speke's Hinge-back Tortoise is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Liwonde National Park (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
