Look!

A predator may not need the fastest speed or reflexes to catch a bird
.

On August 23, in a paper published in Current Biology ("Contemporary Biology"), a journal of Cell Press , researchers reported the first evidence that a tortoise was killing: biting a swallow The head of a gull chick, kill and eat it
.
Although this is the first time this behavior has been captured with a camera, researchers believe that this may not be the only "crime" case of a tortoise "killer"

"I can't believe what I saw
.
" said Justin Gerlach, the corresponding author of the paper and the head of the Department of Biological Studies at Peter College, University of Cambridge, UK.

This video was shot in the woods of Managaha Island in the Seychelles, an archipelago on the East African coast of the Indian Ocean

Slowly and steadily, the tortoise approached quietly
.
When it gets close enough, it stretches out its neck and opens its mouth

The nestling fell off the log
.
The tortoise also climbed down and swallowed it whole

Although people often associate the slow speed of turtles with herbivorous habits, this is not the first time people have discovered turtles eating meat in the wild
.
Gerlach said: "But before that, it was difficult to tell whether the tortoise killed the animal directly, or happened to encounter an animal that was already dead

This video, taken by Anna Zora, deputy director of conservation and sustainable development on the island, provides the first clear evidence of a deliberate and planned attack by a tortoise

In addition, this tortoise seems to have experience catching chicks on wood
.
Tern are birds that build nests in trees

Gerlach said: "In my opinion, this tortoise has successfully hunted before, and it seems to know what it is doing
.
"

Although this turtle appears to be an experienced hunter, the question remains: how many turtles will hunt, how often do they hunt, how much nutrition they get from it, and whether this happens elsewhere
.
"Did we see that a tortoise population is developing a new behavior with evolutionary significance, or is it just an interesting event of the moment?" Gerlach miraculously
.

Researchers suspect that the protection work on Gunkanjima may be part of the reason for this unusual behavior
.

Although the numbers of seabirds and tortoises have been declining in the past few hundred years, conservation efforts have restored their numbers, creating a very unique combination of high numbers of birds and tortoises
.
Gerlach said: "We created the conditions for the emergence of a natural behavior that had not been seen for hundreds of years
.
"

It's also possible that tortoises don't just like birds
.
"There are many stories about turtles eating snail shells to get calcium to form their own bones, but I don't understand why they don't eat all snails,
" Gerlach said
.

Despite these unknowns, Gerlach believes that one thing is certain: "Obviously they like to eat terns
.
Although compared to eating plants, it will be a little troublesome
.
" (Source: China Science News Tang Yichen)

Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
cub.
2021.
06.
088