Tortoise On The Run Could Bite, Uk

Tortoise On The Run Could Bite, Uk

22 May 2008

People are being warned to steer clear of an escaped tortoise, as it could bite them.
Rupert may be 60 years old, but his owners have warned that he can still move, and has previously attacked children and dogs – as well as nipping at people's feet.

The North African spur-thighed tortoise, who is sixteen inches high, left his home through a hole under the fence.

Owner Jean Pogson, 77, of The Avenue, Alverstoke, Gosport, said: 'He can run quite fast across the lawn and he doesn't like dogs.

'If he sees one he'll go right up to it and nip their feet.

'Also if you're digging he come right up to you and start nipping at your feet.'

Mrs Pogson's daughter, Joyce Thomas, 47, of Lodge Gardens, Gosport, said she had seen Rupert attack children.

She said: 'I remember a couple of years ago we had some children over from Chernobyl. We were having a strawberry tea to raise money for the Gosport and Fareham Inshore Rescue Service in my parents' garden.

'Well, they had never seen a tortoise before and he bit one of them.

'They were prodding him and turning him over so they must have annoyed him.'

Mrs Pogson said she and her husband, Geoffrey, 85, had looked after Rupert for 40 years, although his age is estimated at about 60.

She said: 'He's means such a lot to us. He's part of the family, and we miss him dreadfully.'

Mrs Pogson said Rupert had gone missing on May 5 and the family had put out leaflets to local residents asking them to keep an eye out.

She said there had been sightings in nearby gardens – in The Avenue, Beatty Drive and Westland Gardens.

But by the time anyone had arrived he had made off.

Geoff Read, section manager of the tropical house at Marwell Zoological Park, said it was very unusual for tortoises to attack children or dogs.

He added: 'I've never heard of it, and I've been looking after tortoises for 40 years.

'They'll bite each other's legs if they're a bit frisky but I've never known them to attack dogs. I have been nipped, and their beaks are quite sharp but it's always been an accident when I was feeding them.'

Rupert has a dark shell with a hole in it following an accident with a garden fork 30 years ago.

Anyone with any information can contact Mrs Pogson on (023) 9258 3316 or Mrs Thomas on 07966 889351.