Giving up
on a life-long oath of vegetarianism, a giant tortoise chose to eat meat,
surprising scientists across the world. Researchers have captured the exact
moment when a Seychelles giant tortoise attacked and ate a tern chicken in what
scientists say is the first-ever documentation of deliberate hunting in hunting
in any wild tortoise species. “This is completely unexpected behaviour and has
never been seen before in wild tortoises,” Justin Gerlach, director of studies
at Peterhouse, Cambridge said in a statement on Monday.

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Gerlach,
who led the study which has been published in the journal Current Biology said,
“The giant tortoise pursued the tern chick along a log, finally killing the
chick and eating it.” The scientist says that it was a very slow encounter. The
tortoise moved at its typical slow pace but still managed to eat the bird. “The
whole interaction took seven minutes and was quite horrifying,” Gerlach said
adding that the way the tortoise moved suggested that it was “experienced” at
hunting.

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Although
tortoises are generally considered herbivores, they have been spotted, although
rarely, eating meat of dead animals and their bones and sometimes eating snail
shells for calcium. “It is quite common for herbivores to eat a bit of dead
animal as a free protein source, essentially. But this is the first video
evidence of them deliberately killing in order to eat,” added Gerlach.

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Giant
tortoises are the largest herbivores inhabiting the Galapagos and Seychelles islands.
They consume nearly 11% of the vegetation in the area. The islands are home to
around 3,000 such giant tortoises. Scientists are of the opinion that the new
hunting behaviour among tortoises in the area was caused by the unusual
combination of a tern colony nesting in the trees and the massive tortoise
population in the region.

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While
surprising, this is certainly not the first instance of uncharacteristic animal
behaviour. In 2019, chimpanzees were seen killing gorillas in the wild. “It is
probably not uncommon for animals to surprise our expectations by eating
unexpected things that may just be a one off,” said Justin Gerlach, the lead
scientist of the study.