We have read about
‘great escapes’- not only of those escaping high security prisons – also of
animals leaving their confined enclosures.
Some time back, the missing Tiger of Vandalur made news in Chennai; fear
gripped the village in Vandalur and the residents, mostly daily wage labourers,
spent sleepless nights. In 2011,
villagers were on alert after a python escaped from its enclosure at the zoo.
The villagers also have to put up with monkeys and snakes in the surrounding
wooded area. A few years earlier, there
was this marsh crocodile tapping the gate of a home. Chennai is not alone, away Gurgaon forest
department officials found the body of a 12- year-old leopard in Sehrawan village
on NH-8 near Manesar.
There have been many
cases of animals escaping zoos in foreign countries too; in June 2015, flash flooding in the Georgian capital killed up to
12 people including three who work at the zoo.
Flooding destroyed enclosures at Tbilisi Zoo in Georgia allowing more
than 30 dangerous animals to roam free - tigers, lions, jaguars, wolves,
jackals and a hippo escaped - residents of
Tbilisi were warned to stay indoors; a mighty hippo
was eventually cornered in the main square of Tbilisi and was subdued by being
shot with a tranquiliser gun. Some were less fortunate and died on the roads !
Might surprise some –
that tortoises do run races !! - Turtle racing is an event in which
participants typically place turtles in the centre of a circle and watch them
walk around until one of them crosses out of the circle ~ and some place bets
on them too........ incidentally, the Usain Bolt of tortoises is - Bertie who
covered 18ft in a world record 19.59 seconds.
There was another – a 150 pound tortoise given a chase by Police of
Alhambara.
This post is about
Toby escaping out of the backgate in Kent !!! - Toby was picked up by a driver
on a nearby road and taken to a rescue centre… Six months later he was re-homed
with a couple in Margate - 22 miles away
Toby, a tortoise was
reunited with his owner after spending nearly a year on the run and even
finding a new home - at the age of 109. Owner Wendy Stokes, 74, had given up
hope of ever seeing Toby again after he escaped from her garden 11 months ago.
…. ..piecing together his escapades over the last year, it looks like it was quite an adventure.
It is reported that
he wandered through a gate in her garden and headed for the open road where he
was picked up by a passing driver concerned for his safety and taken to a
nearby animal rescue centre.Six months down, he was re-homed with a couple living in
Margate, Kent, 22 miles away from Wendy's farm in West Hougham. The couple, who
could just about make out the word 'Stokes' written in white paint on his
shell, felt they needed to find out who Tony belonged to. Though no. had been written, it had faded in course of time.
With nothing else to
go on, they decided to call every Stokes in Kent listed in the
phonebook.Eventually came across a delighted Wendy, who immediately arranged to
collect him.She's had Toby since the 1980s when he was given to her by her late
great aunt ~and a happy ending to the
story as Toby returned home, a full 11 months after his amazing, if a little
slow, adventure.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
21st July
2015.
photo and news source : www.dailymail.co.uk
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