Tortoise On Wheels: How A Chennai Zoo Tortoise Became The Fastest Tortoise Alive

When four big tortoises picked up a fight with a small one, badly injuring one of her front legs, they probably didn’t realise that it might just backfire and make her the fastest tortoise amongst the 49 others in a zoo in Chennai.

An inhabitant of Vandalur zoo, this tortoise now has two tiny wheels--intended for sliding windows, but have instead gifted this tortoise with a mobility that is unimaginable for any other tortoise, or even a hare. “She now reaches her food faster than the 49 other tortoises in the enclosure. The rest aren’t even close to competing with her,” explains zoo director K S S V P Reddy.

Installed by veterinary surgeons, they were sure that the injured leg had to be removed and so they decided to try something different and give the tortoise these wheels instead. The surgery lasted for 30 minutes, after which the tortoise continued to move completely unfazed with what had happened earlier. As zoo director Reddy puts it, “she is swiveling on her wheels.” These wheels are connected with a thin, lightweight metal rod that runs from the injured leg to the other leg, helping her to move without any possible difficulty.
This is not the first time these veterinary surgeons have gifted an animal with an inconceivable gift. In March, they undertook a cosmetic surgery for a leopard who walked into trap poachers that were not intended for her in Lovedale Reserved Forests in Nilgiris.

Feature Image Courtesy: http://home.bt.com

Words: Karan Kaul