It seems that even reptiles are susceptible to marital troubles. Two Giant Tortoises at an Austrian zoo have been placed into separate cages after Bibi, the female tortoise, “attacked her partner – biting off a chunk of his shell… until he was moved to another enclosure.” Sick of being cooped up in a cage with her partner Poldi, Bibi seems to have moved on to the single life.
According to Helga Happ, the zoo’s manager, “Bibi and Poldi have been a pair since before anyone alive today can remember – they have been together at the Austrian zoo in Klagenfurt for 36 years and before that they lived at Basel zoo in Switzerland,” making their total time spent together a mind-blowing 115 years.
After that vicious attack, it might be hard to convince Poldi to return to any cage with Bibi – “Giant Turtles have a horn rimmed mouth and powerful jaws that are a potent weapon when they want to cause damage. Each of the 100 kilo animals has the ability to kill the other if they wanted.” However, the zoo has not ruled out reconciliation, perhaps believing a little too much in the power of true love: “Zoo management have called in animal experts to try and give the pair counseling – feeding them romantic good mood food and trying to get them to join in joint games.” If only human marriage counseling were that easy!
(via The Austrian Times.)
