[Ozric Jonathan]

These tortoises are pets. They are not going to Corsica or Puglia to affect the gene pool. They will stay in the house, shed and garden of whoever buys them in the UK.

So does it really matter so much if they are not from a specific locality? I don't believe it does.

I'm saying this from the point of view of having spent years looking for more Corse hermannis to partner the two I got in the first place. I believe what the breeders told me and I did question them closely. But can I prove they are Corsican? No I can't because there isn't any meaningful test.

Now I don't know Hanako at all but I do know that Hanako has been on a mission for years looking for hermannis. I can identify with that.

The localities are definitely not subspecies and I think that suggestion was misleading or just a plain mistake.

I repeat - these aniamls are pets. Hanako is not putting them into a breeding programme to put stock into empty habitats.