It is late March and a cool breeze bends a sparse patch of dry grass in the clay desert of eastern
Uzbekistan The soil around a small burrow begins to shift and a dry scaly head emerges
I t is late March and a cool breeze bends a sparse patch of dry grass in the clay desert of eastern Uzbekistan The soil around a small burrow begins to shift and a dry scaly head emerges its dark eyes blinking slowly It is a Russian tortoise rising from six months of winter sleep Instinct and the faint scent of distant rain have driven the tortoise from his burrow Thick front legs and sharp claws dig into the dense yellow clay as the tortoise pulls
