Woman Seen 'Walking' Enormous Pet Tortoise in City Park

It takes a lot to catch a New Yorker off guard, with all the inherent weirdness and charm the five sprawling boroughs have to offer. But that’s exactly what happened this week when one New York City resident happened upon a woman walking her pet African spurred tortoise at a park in Queens, and captured the scene on video so the rest of the world could enjoy it.

“Just met a lady walking her tortoise in the park here in Queens,” posted radio host and The Jewish Vote co-founder Rafael Shimunov, on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “His name is Beavis and she says he’s the third largest in the world.”

Just met a lady walking her tortoise in the park here in Queens. His name is beavis and she says he’s the third largest in the world. pic.twitter.com/g7RSqHlJG1

— Rafael Shimunov (@rafaelshimunov) September 19, 2023

As the unidentified woman tells Shimunov, she’s had Beavis since he was about softball-sized—going by the estimation she makes with her hands—and used to take him to the park more often before he grew to his current size. Eventually, she says the five-year-old tortoise will weigh more than 300 pounds.

“He’s very friendly,” the woman told Shimunov when asked what Beavis’s personality is like. “Very friendly. You know, he loves me. Like he recognizes [his owner’s] voice.”

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Species Survival Commission’s Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group, the African spurred tortoise, also known as the sulcata tortoise, is an endangered species of tortoise native to the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in Africa. The species—not Beavis in particular—is also indeed the third-largest species of tortoise in the world, after the Galapagos tortoise and Aldabra giant tortoise, found in the archipelagic state of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

But for anyone thinking about adopting a tortoise, particularly a large breed, be warned. Large tortoises are among the longest-living animals in the world, and can reach approximately 200 years in age. So not only should you make a contingency plan for when your pet outlives you, but your contingency plan might also need a contingency plan or two.

But for now, anyway, it seems as though Beavis is living the good life in Queens.

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