Wild tortoises, what does this tell me about my land?

New landowner here, Bsk semi arid steppe sandy soil lots of work to do, just wanted to ask the question, we came across some wild tortoises roaming our land today. What does this mean? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Useful or pests? The kids are going to be thrilled, and I don’t mind them, but I’d love anybody with experience or knowledge’s expertise on the subject ^^

Also have seen the climate referred to as continental Mediterranean. Inland Algeria bordering the Sahara desert

You are fortunate to have tortoises.

What does it mean when you find a tortoise in your yard?
Having a tortoise in your home or garden is believed to bring positive energy and good fortune. It is also associated with the element of water, which represents wisdom and flexibility. Additionally, the tortoise is often depicted carrying the sacred Bagua, which symbolizes harmony and balance

https://www.reptileknowledge.com/reptile-pedia/is-it-lucky-to-find-tortoise

Why are tortoises important to the environment?
These shelled evolutionary wonders play important roles to keep their ecosystems healthy. Tortoises and freshwater turtles are important seed and spore dispersers for many plants, trees and fungi. Snapping and softshell turtles are important scavengers that help maintain clean aquatic ecosystems.

https://www.rewild.org/get-to-know/turtles-and-tortoises

At least some tortoises make burrows, and this can be objectionable to those who prefer their terrain un-burrowed I suppose. In some places, tortoises are endangered because they are edible and relatively easy to catch and can be stored (cruelly) by placing them on their back until cooked. Having wild tortoises on your land suggests no hungry nearby neighbors, which is good. If you are going to have ungulates on your land, you will want to know if your tortoises make burrows because sometimes burrows can be hazardous for grazers (who apparently do not pay much attention to where they take the next step).

Julie, if I might pry? Where do you live abouts?

Wild tortoises have a tendency to roam, and in some areas like Texas they might not even be wild but rather LOOSE. They might dig or simply pass by looking for food or water. They are pretty neat in my opinion. Some are endangered and protected by certain laws or regulations.

What an amazing site. I would consider this nothing short of awesome. When I first bought my place I saw a crazy dinosaur looking turtle. While I enjoyed seeing him he was scary having kids. This is a different animal. Id encourage that tortoise to stay if it was me. What a joy.

I know nothing about what they like or damage they could do. However if it were me I’d gladly accept any damage they would do to have them on board. I’m totally jealous lol.  

I also agree with Timothy. I would put an ad or something out. That could be someone’s pet for no telling how long. They live a long long long time.

Julie Baghaoui wrote:Also have seen the climate referred to as continental Mediterranean. Inland Algeria bordering the Sahara desert

Well, given the location it is quite easy to find more info on the tortoises:
The local testudo graeca is listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.
So be happy that your land is inhabited by this fascinating endangered species!

Remember that the distinction between "useful" and "pest" is doomed to fail because the codependencies of species form a very intricate net, and with extracting one species that we consider "pest" we could endanger the balance of the whole system. Not to mention that one species may act both to our advantage and to our disadvantage depending on their lifecycle and other factors...
When a species becomes harmful it usually means that something has thrown the balance off, e.g. reduction of a predator, monoculture, introduction of non-native species etc.

I would suggest you do some reading on the habits of tortoises and maybe create a little habitat on your acreage for them? Good luck!

Burrows can be very beneficial for water infiltration. It does not seem like grazing land, but if I had cattle I would just place rocks on either side of the hole, with room for the burrower to get in and and out but close enough to discourage clumsy ungulates wandering over it.

It is not applicable to this context, and contradicts the point above a bit, but a study that reflects the complexity mentioned in a previous post found in the northern rockies that with livestock guardian dogs actively protecting their flocks/herds, wolves in the area actually benefited the livestock survival rates . They did this by moderating burrower (mostly gopher and prairie dog i believe) populations and thus preventing more leg breakages than their take of livestock, which itself was greatly reduced by the LGDs (90-98% fewer kills by predators). Gotta love LGDs! If they only knew the wolves they hate so much are actually helping, and that they are helping wolves to coexist with their flock.