Bertie smashed the previous record that stood for nearly 40 years.
Bertie, an unassuming leopard tortoise has been named the world’s fastest tortoise by Guinness World Records and guess how fast he goes? A whopping 0.6 mph (0.28 meters per second). That is right, Bertie, is the fastest tortoise in the world, breaking the previous record that was set in 1977. Bertie did it over a 5.48 meter course, going uphill at a gradient of 1:12. It took him all of 19.59 seconds to complete the course.
So what fuelled Bertie’s epic run and record? Strawberries. The tortoise, which lives in Adventure Valley, a theme park in Brasside, Durham, UK was running for his fix of strawberries, according to his keeper, Marco Calzini.
John B. Virata keeps a western hognose snake, a ball python, two corn snakes, a king snake, and two leopard geckos. His first snake, a California kingsnake, was purchased for $5. His first pet reptile was a green anole that arrived in a small box via mail order. Follow him on Twitter @johnvirata
