The status of most vertebrates in the African Sahel is not well known. Among these, the African spurred tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), a charismatic but also one of most threatened vertebrates in the Sahel, is still poorly studied. We investigated the status of this species, its potential distribution, habitat selection (at multiple spatial scales) and activity patterns in Mali and Burkina Faso, two countries within the tortoise’ known range. We employed field surveys and villager interviews in 23 sites to determine the presence of the species. In these surveys and interviews, we also included the Western hinge-back tortoise (Kinixys nogueyi), a sympatric chelonian also suspected of being in decline. Age-stratified interviews revealed that C. sulcata is widespread in Mali, but since there was a statistically higher frequency of older respondents that remembered C. sulcata present around their village, compared to younger respondents, it is likely that the species has been declining throughout the study area. We encountered a total 77 C. sulcata and 20 K. nogueyi individuals during our field surveys. Most C. sulcata were found along areas of intermittent streams and stabilised dunes, known locally as koris. Centrochelys sulcata individuals were more likely to occur in sandy dry savannah areas that were further away from human settlements, and which contained inland waters or were closer to these. Kinixys nogueyi exhibited instead an allopatric distribution, with no ascertained sympatry with C. sulcata at the microhabitat scale. Cattle incidence was negatively correlated with the presence by C. sulcata. Our results also indicate that aboveground activity of C. sulcata is limited to the wet season and has a clearly bimodal diel activity cycle, with most sightings in the early morning hours. We provide suggestions on how best to survey this species in the wild while advancing new information on its distribution and biology. These data are invaluable to assess the status of this species as part of future conservation planning efforts.

非洲萨赫勒地区大多数脊椎动物的状况尚不清楚。其中，对非洲带动陆龟（Centrochelys sulcata）（一种魅力十足，但也是萨赫勒地区最受威胁的脊椎动物之一）的研究仍很少。我们调查了乌龟已知范围内的两个国家马里和布基纳法索的该物种的状况，其物种分布，栖息地选择（在多个空间尺度上）和活动方式。我们在23个地点进行了实地调查和村民访谈，以确定该物种的存在。在这些调查和访谈中，我们还包括西方的折背乌龟（Kinixys nogueyi），这是一种同伴性的科隆人，也被怀疑正在下降。按年龄分层的访谈显示，C。sulcata在马里很普遍，但是与年轻的受访者相比，由于统计上更老的受访者回忆起村庄周围存在的C. sulcata的频率更高，因此该物种很可能在整个研究区域都在减少。我们遇到了一个总77 C.苏卡达和20分K. nogueyi我们的实地调查过程中的个人。大多数C.苏卡达分别沿着间歇性河流和稳定的沙丘，在当地被称为的地区发现koris。中华虫个体更可能发生在距离人类住区较远，内陆水域或更近的沙质干旱大草原地区。Kinixys nogueyi代替表现出异域分布，与没有确定同域C.苏卡达在微生规模。牛的发病率与C. sulcata的存在呈负相关。我们的结果还表明，地衣藻的地上活动仅限于雨季，并且具有明显的双峰diel活动周期，大部分时间都在清晨。我们提供有关在野外调查该物种的最佳方法的建议，同时提供有关其分布和生物学的新信息。这些数据对于评估该物种的状况非常有价值，可作为未来保护规划工作的一部分。