Tortoises are turtles, but turtles aren’t tortoises. Sounds confusing, right? Tortoises usually eat plants and can’t swim. The easiest way to tell them apart from turtles is to take a look at their shells and feet. Unlike turtles that have webbed feet and long claws, tortoises have elephant-like feet and heavier shells.
But, when you are so tiny, less than 6cm long, and just four days old, you can get away with hitching a ride with your parents.
That’s exactly what happened with this tiny tortoise at Nyiregyhaza Animal Park in Hungary. The little creature took the opportunity to ride for free after being placed on its mother’s head.
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The cute little African spurred tortoise was just one of eight babies which were born at the park 226km east of Budapest last week.
This is a 5.5cm baby who weighs just 25 grams. All of its seven siblings are the first African spurred tortoises that were born at the zoo.
It took 115 days for the eight babies to get hatched. However, they still need some help to get around.
Did you know?
The African spurred tortoise is also known as the sulcata tortoise. This species lives in the southern parts of the Sahara desert, in Africa.
African spurred tortoises are the third-largest species in the world. Only the Galapagos tortoise and the Aldabra giant tortoise are bigger than the African spurred tortoise.
However, they are the largest species of land tortoise in Africa. The weight of an adult tortoise can sometimes reach 80kgs.
The oldest African spurred tortoise which was held in captivity is 56 years old. However, these species can live longer and even reach the age of 80 to 100 years.
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