Formerly thought to occur across Libya, Egypt and Israel, the populations east of the Nile Delta in Egypt and in Israel have recently been found to be a separate species, Testudo werneri. Furthermore, the species is effectively extinct in the remaining areas of Egypt. Two wild individuals were found in 2001 in a protected coastal area in the Western Desert, the first record of the species in Egypt in over 20 years, but such small numbers do not constitute a viable population. The tortoise is still found in two distinct regions of Libya - Tripolitania and Cyrenaica.