Region | Palestinian Territories
Turtle on wheels gets around
Arava the disabled turtle is using her new set of wheels to get around in more ways than one.
- AP
- Published: 23:21 August 18, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Arava, a disabled tortoise, is held up by zoo keeper to display a metal board with two wheels attached to her shell that helps her move around.
Occupied Jerusalem: Arava the disabled turtle is using her new set of wheels to get around in more ways than one.
Officials at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo say the 10-year-old spurred tortoise has begun mating since being fitted with a custom skateboard to overcome paralysis of her hind legs.
The 25-kilo turtle is unable to move herself forward with her front legs alone. So the zoo's staff built her a metal board with two wheels that can be strapped to her stomach.
Arava arrived here a few months ago from a petting zoo with the unexplained handicap, and found no reptile romance.
Zoo curator Shmulik Yedvad says it's not that Arava has come out of her shell with her unique new wheelchair, but that a particularly amorous 10-year-old male has been after her.
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