Researchers Surprised Meet Seychelles Giant Tortoise Attack And Eat Baby Birds

Kura-kura Seychelles. (Wikimedia Commons/Rufus46)

JAKARTA - Researchers were surprised and confused when they found the fact that wild turtles, which had been considered plant eaters, had actually attacked baby birds.

Citing Sky News Aug. 25, an attack on a baby bird was seen on Fregate Island in the Seychelles. Researchers think the new hunting behavior is driven by an unusual combination of tree-nesting pigeon colonies and the population of giant tortoises in the area.

The image of a Seychelles giant tortoise launching a gruesome attack on a baby bird is the first documentation of intentional hunting by the species, experts say.

The behavior of the hunting tortoises, previously thought to be vegetarians, was described as an 'unexpected' 'slow encounter'.

An attack by a known female turtle on a baby bird was seen in July 2020 on Fregate Island, an island privately owned by the Seychelles group managed for ecotourism, where about 3,000 turtles live.

Dr. Justin Gerlach, director of studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge and affiliated researcher at the University of Cambridge's Museum of Zoology, said: "This is a completely unexpected behavior and has never been seen before in wild turtles.

"The giant tortoise chased the baby bird along the logs, eventually killing the chick and eating it," said Dr. Gerlach.

Seychelles giant tortoise. (Wikimedia Commons/Bjørn Christian Tørrissen)

"It was a very slow encounter, with the turtles moving at a normal, slow gait. The whole interaction took seven minutes and was quite harrowing."

The researchers think this new hunting behavior has been driven by an unusual combination of the tree-nesting bird colony and the island's population of giant tortoises.

Previously, all turtles were considered vegetarians, although they have been seen eating carrion and they eat the bones and shells of snails for calcium.

But no turtle species has been seen actively pursuing prey in the wild before. In most places, potential prey is too fast or agile for the giant tortoise to catch.

However, the researchers said the way the tortoise, which has the Latin name Aldabrachelys gigantea, approached the baby birds on logs suggesting this type of interaction was frequent.

"Recently, the combination of the population of nesting turtles on Fregate Island and the population of giant tortoises is not unusual," said Dr. Gerlach.

"However, our observations highlight as ecosystems are restored, completely unexpected interactions between species may emerge. Things that may have happened frequently in the past but we've never seen before."

The interaction was filmed by Anna Zora, conservation manager on Fregate Island and co-author of the study. And, the research was published in the science journal 'Current Biology' and was supported by the Fregate Island Foundation.