Adorable three-legged tortoise rescued from illegal smugglers
A three-legged ploughshare tortoise that was seized from illegal smugglers in Hong Kong has been given a new home at Chester Zoo, after experts fitted it with a unique set of modifications to help it get around.
The tortoise - which has been named Hope - one of the world's rarest animals with fewer than 300 remaining in the wild - was rescued by customs officials from a would-be wildlife trader who was found with a suitcase concealing 57 live and endangered tortoises when travelling from the Comoro Islands off the coast of East Africa in 2019.
The illegal trafficker was subsequently jailed for two years, the heaviest penalty ever imposed under Hong Kong's animal protection laws at the time. The tortoise was immediately transferred into the care of conservationists at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden Wild Animal Rescue Centre in Hong Kong, where it was found to be missing its front left leg, as well as claws on its hind left leg, possibly due to a birth defect or injury picked up when very young. Experts therefore set about fitting three support rollers under its lower shell, or plastron, to help it to walk and balance.
Dr Gerardo Garcia, Curator of Lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates at Chester Zoo, said: "Hope is an incredibly special tortoise, for many reasons. Firstly, ploughshare tortoises are exceptionally rare. It's not just the world's most threatened species of tortoise, it's one of the most threatened animals on the planet, full stop. Fewer than 300 now remain in the wild, mostly due to their overexploitation by illegal wildlife traders - leaving them functionally extinct in their home of Madagascar.
"In addition Hope has a remarkable life story, having been rescued from smugglers, discovered to have a missing leg and then having a prosthetic mobility support specially fitted to help him get around."
