A female Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) is reported to have spent several minutes stalking a young tern (Anous tenuirostris) that had fallen from a nest on Fr間ate Island.

On a summer day 2020, a female Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) was reported to have spent several minutes stalking a young sea tern (Anous tenuirostris) that had fallen from a nest on Fr間ate Island, Seychelles on an offshore island. in East Africa.

In one slow scene, the tortoise forces the chick back under the log until the bird has nowhere to go. Then with a number of slow movements, the tortoise opened its mouth and caught the bird and crushed its head.

Finally, he swallowed his whole body. This is the first documented hunt for a turtle. This was revealed by researchers on August 23 in Current Biology. Seeing this, a researcher, Jusin Gerlach, commented.

"This was completely unexpected," said Gerlach, a biologist at the University of Cambridge on the Science News page.

"Amazing and a little scary," he said as he watched the video.

The footage was taken by Anna Zora, conservation and sustainability manager for the Fregate Island Sanctuary, a nature reserve on the island. Many herbivores will opportunistically eat carrion for protein. Most prey can outrun the tortoise, making the hunt futile.

"But because it's a bird that nests in trees, the ground is a dangerous place. Once on a log, the chick may cling to what it knows," says Gerlach.

Gerlach guessed that this tortoise had hunted before, this was due to its deliberate movement. He planned to investigate whether this kind of hunting behavior occurs regularly, but with just the video, the view of this reptile has changed.

"This shows that there's a lot more they can get," said Gerlach.