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Tortoise Stolen From California School Found 22 Miles Away At Golf Course

Bubba the tortoise has since been returned to the middle school he calls home.

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A beloved tortoise who disappeared from a California middle school that it called home has been found on a golf course more than 22 miles away from its home.

When you think you have seen it all at DeBell GC. Today there will be slow play on Hole 18 due to the 'Snapping Turtle'. Book your next tee time at DeBell it's just like visiting the zoo.

Posted by DeBell Golf Club on Friday, October 27, 2017

Bubba, a 140-pound sulcata tortoise apparently got taken out of her habitat sometime last week at Paul Revere Charter Middle School in Pacific Palisades, Calif.


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Craig Honda, Bubba’s caretaker and a science teacher at the school, told CBS 4 last week that students saw someone in a white truck take the tortoise.

The tortoise was then apparently dumped at the DeBell Golf Course in Burbank, Calif. The course posted a video of Bubba on Facebook walking on the greens.

“When you think you have seen it all at DeBell GC. Today there will be slow play on Hole 18 due to the ‘Snapping Turtle’. Book your next tee time at DeBell it’s just like visiting the zoo,” the golf course wrote on its Facebook page.

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After hitting the links at the golf course, Bubba was sent to Pet Harbor Shelter in Burbank, where volunteer Kathy Steele, who previously saw the missing story about Bubba on the news, contacted Mr. Honda, who picked Bubba up October 30.

“Thankfully, Mr. Honda had the foresight to contact NBC,” the school wrote on its Facebook page. “Without the news story, Kathy Steele and Mr. Honda, Bubba would not have returned to Revere. Happy to report that miracles do happen!”