Brief history - from the early 1900's saw millions of tortoises being imported into the UK, these were generally spur-thighed from Africa, but later attentions turnt to the Herman's and marginated tortoises

 

The way these tortoises were shipped into the UK was cruel and inhumane; they were taken from their natural habitat and shipped in packing boxes filled to the brim or crammed into sacks with no thought about their health or welfare of the tortoises, thousands of these animals were to meet their end cruelly, most arrived in the UK weak, dehydrated, sick, injured, or dead

 

This saw DEFRA finally impose a ban the imports of 3 species of Mediterranean tortoises in 1984, it is now required by UK law that to be able to sell or exchange a tortoise it must have a CITES license issued by DEFRA

You should never buy a Mediterranean tortoise without a license in the UK regardless of where it was bred

 

Mediterranean tortoises are bred very successfully here in the UK in captivity by experienced breeders, but this does not mean Mediterranean tortoises have acclimatized to our climate, far from it, they have very specific needs to enable them to thrive and live happy long lives here in the UK and you need to consider if you can offer the correct housing, feeding, care and time before buying a tortoises