Slowly, but surely of its success, this giant turtle by Aldabra (Aldabrachelys gigantea) he takes his prey: a baby bird. Thanks to this video, we now know that these giant tortoises also eat birds. Or, at least, that is what the researchers who have captured the images propose; since it does not seem something casual or unique.
In the video we see a female giant tortoise walking slowly and throwing bites towards her possible prey, which is on a log. The victim is a baby that does not know how to fly from ringworm picofina (Anous tenuirostris) that, although it does not appear in the images, had just fallen from the nest, as explained from the SINC Agency.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” commented biologist Justin Gerlach, from the University of Cambridge, according to Science Alert. “It was horrifying and amazing at the same time.”
Giant tortoises, first caught hunting birds
At study published in the scientific journal Current Biology it is explained as the “first documented observation of a turtle deliberately attacking and consuming another animal.” In fact, the hunt lasted about seven minutes, including the moment that the video captures, which barely lasts two minutes and you see the final blow that ends with the baby bird.
“He was looking directly at the ringworm picofina and walking towards the baby,” he adds. “This was very, very strange. And totally different from normal turtle behavior“Or, at least, the behavior we consider normal. Because this recording opens the doors to get to know these giant tortoises better.
In fact, from what we know so far of the A. gigantea is that they are “mainly herbivorous”. However, it is not the first time that they have eaten other animals. Furthermore, in the study itself, the researchers say that “there have been anecdotal reports of turtles that crush crabs with their shellsBut also of other animals that although they are “mainly herbivores” have eaten “birds” or “consume carrion”.
The place where the video was recorded is the forests of Fregate Island, in the Seychelles, archipelago off the coasts of Somalia and Kenya. The images were taken Anna Zora, deputy director of conservation and sustainability at the Fregate Island Foundation.
In short, despite the fact that we believe that we already know everything about the animals we live with on Earth; once again nature surprises us again. And we still have a lot to learn about giant tortoises.