If you are the owner or may know someone who keeps a sulcata tortoise in Fontana, contact the city police department at (909) 350-7700.
The City of Fontana Police Department received an anonymous tip October 12 about a “a dinosaur-like creature wandering north on Tangelo Avenue from Shamrock Avenue,” in Fontana, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles. The city’s Animal Services officers arrived on the scene to discover the animal was not a dinosaur, but rather a very large sulcata tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), that the officers estimate weighed close to 100 lbs.
The tortoise was walking up Tangelo Ave., minding its own business when Fontana’s animal services officers gave chase. After a few strides by the officers, the tortoises was successfully contained. Now the city police department is looking for the owner of this seemingly escaped companion. “If you are the owner of this tortoise, please contact us at (909) 350-7700,” the City of Fontana Police Department said in a statement posted to social media.
The sulcata tortoise is a huge species that, like all other turtles, begins quite small. They hatch from the egg at just a few inches, resembling a pale yellow ping pong ball. Photo by Seasoning 17/Shutterstock
Th African spur-thighed tortoise also known as the sulcata tortoise, is a large tortoise that can exceed 100 lbs and live for just as many years. It is native to the southern portion of the Sahara Desert in Africa and is one of the most widely captive-bred large tortoises. They are a long-lived tortoise that requires expert care and a large outdoor enclosure when they reach full size.They are the probably the most popular tortoise seen at reptile expos and are also the cheapest to acquire, with $50 being an average price for hatchlings. They are also excellent escape artists and will find a breach in any perimeter and exploit it. Hopefully the owner of the Fontana sulcata is found soon.
