Large African tortoise found struggling in Louisiana canal. How did it get there?
The odd tale of an African tortoise living with dogs and cats at a Louisiana animal shelter took an even stranger turn when a man showed up to report the ottoman-sized creature was his lost pet.
Video of the joyous reunion shows Biscuit — yes, that’s its name — walked out of the Ascension Parish animal shelter and headed straight to his owner’s pickup. The parish is outside Baton Rouge.
“We are happy to report that Biscuit has reunited with his family,” Cara’s House-Ascension Parish Animal Shelter wrote Aug. 30 on Facebook. “This boy is 100 years old.”
Details of how Biscuit got free were not released, but he clearly was not prepared for life in the wild.
He ended up having to be rescued from a canal, the Parish of Ascension reports.
“This morning, the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office called (animal control) out for a land tortoise in distress in New River Canal,” the parish reported.
“Two animal control officers, Curt Trepagnier and Isreal Millet, then worked with APSO to retrieve the tortoise from the canal. The tortoise was humanely contained, loaded into the truck, and safely transported to Cara’s House-Ascension Parish Animal Shelter.”
The shelter did not reveal the name of Biscuit’s family, but one social media commenter reports he was the owner and blamed a storm for setting the tortoise free.
“The wind and rain from yesterday (Aug. 29) blew my back gate open and broke the latch,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
“I told my wife this morning that I would fix it Sunday, and it would be fine till then. Biscuit had other plans. For the first time in years he decided to take an adventure. Thanks to the good people involved and the post I was able to get him back before my daughter came home!”
News of Biscuit’s rescue and family reunion has gotten more than 1,500 reactions and comments on social media, including some who suggested the tortoise needs his own Facebook page.
The African spurred tortoise can grow to 30 inches in length and “some males even reach 200 pounds,” according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. They live 80 to 100 years, the alliance says.
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