A little privacy, please?
A male tortoise, apparently angry that National Geographic expedition leader Paul Rose interrupted his mating session, attempted to chase the interloper and his producer away in a viral video shot at Assumption Island in the Seychelles.
But "chase" might be too generous: A giant tortoise "will hit a cruising speed of about 1/6 mph," the National Wildlife Federation writes.
We'll give the tortoise one thing: He's determined. He pursued Rose for about 400 yards before the reporter bid adieu, according to the YouTube video.
"There was no doubt that he would not stop until he had seen me off the island, preferably with significant pieces missing from my legs," Rose wrote at nationalgeographic.com. "And so we began a ludicrous, disconcerting, low-speed chase that took us across the low grass stubble and the adjacent concrete runway and alongside the bushes."
According to Seychelles News Agency, male Aldabra tortoises "can be aggressive and territorial creatures not to be interfered with, particularly during the mating season."
Their breeding season generally lasts between February and May, the National Zoo notes.
H/T Uproxx
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