A LUMBERING giant tortoise thought to be vegetarian has caught and killed a bird.
Experts say the slo-mo attack, which took seven minutes, shows the beast is a practised killer.
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A giant tortoise thought to be gentle and vegetarian was seen stalking a tern chick on a log, grabbing it and eating its prey 2
The beast took only seven minutes to kill the bird, experts say it shows the animal is a practised killer
In video footage, the tortoise stalks a tern chick on a log, grabs it and devours its prey.
Dr Justin Gerlach, of Cambridge University, said: “This is completely unexpected behaviour and has never been seen before in wild tortoises.
“It was a very slow encounter, with the tortoise moving at slow walking pace.
“The whole interaction was quite horrifying.”
The attack was filmed last year on Frégate Island, a private holiday resort popular with celebs in the Seychelles, off East Africa, where around 3,000 tortoises live wild.
The creatures — with an average lifespan of 100 years — were thought to be veggies but sometimes eat bones and snail shells for calcium.
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Scientists think the killings started after a colony of terns was re-established.
Dr Gerlach added: “When ecosystems are restored, totally unexpected interactions between species may appear — things that probably happened commonly in the past but we’ve never seen before.”
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