text: TOKYO: A giant tortoise that made a break from a Japanese zoo has been found safe and sound two weeks after it escaped - just 140 metres from the park. 
   
   The 35-year-old female, named Abuh and measuring around one metre (three feet) in length, steamed out of the Shibukawa Animal Park in Okayama prefecture in early August having been allowed to walk freely around the zoo during opening hours. 
   
   Zoo keepers, unable to trace the truant tortoise, offered a reward of ¥500,000 (US$4,500) for her safe return. 
   
   Their plan proved a success when a sharp-eyed local bounty hunter spotted the roaming reptile in nearby shrubbery. 
   
   A giant female tortoise named Abuh who made a break from a Japanese zoo has been found safe and sound two weeks after she escaped - just 140 metres from the park. (Photo: AFP/Handout) 
   
   "We were so relieved that she came back safely as she is so popular among children," said zoo staffer Yoshimi Yamane, describing Abuh - who weighs 55 kilogrammes (121 pounds) - as having a "gentle" disposition. 
   
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   "We will try to take new measures so that this won't happen again," Yamane added, without giving details. 
   
   The incident was the second time in less than a month that Abuh had disappeared. Her return home to the zoo was a top item on a TV news bulletin by Japan's public broadcaster NHK. ||||| TAMANO, Okayama Prefecture--A female Aldabra giant tortoise named “Abu,” missing for two weeks, was found by a family at a forest near Shibukawa Zoo on the afternoon of Aug. 16. 
   
   The zoo had been looking for the escaped Abu from Aug. 1, but no solid leads had been reported. As a result, the zoo had been prepared to offer a cash reward of 500,000 yen ($4,500) for her safe return. 
   
   On Aug. 16, Abu was discovered in a forest about 50 meters from the entrance of the zoo, on top of a steep slope. 
   
   According to Shibukawa Zoo officials, the family from Okayama city found Abu and came to the zoo at around 2 p.m. to report finding her. 
   
   Abu is doing fine and has a healthy appetite after two weeks in the wild, eating pears and watermelon given by zoo staff. 
   
   “I was relieved that Abu was discovered safely,” said a zookeeper. “She might have climbed a mountain, making a big detour.” 
   
   The free-range tortoise, from one of the largest tortoise species in the world, is described as about 1 meter in length and weighs about 55 kilograms. She can travel at a full speed of 1 kph. 
   
   Aldabra giant tortoises, which thrive in the summer heat, can survive for months without food or water. ||||| A female Aldabra giant tortoise named Abuh who had escaped from a Japanese zoo earlier this month has been found just a few steps away from the facility. Which got us wondering: Just how far could a 121 pound tortoise travel in 16 days? 
   
   
   
   As reported in ChannelNewsAsia, Abuh made her daring escape on August 1st, breaking free from the Shibukawa Animal Park in Okayama prefecture. The zookeepers had been allowing the 121-pound tortoise to walk freely through the park during opening hours, a policy shift that Abuh seems to have exploited. 
   
   After a failed search to find the missing reptile, the zoo offered a reward of 500,000 yen ($4,500) to anyone who could find her. This strategy apparently worked as a “sharp-eyed local bounty hunter” located the tortoise in nearby shrubbery a mere 140 meters (460 feet) from the zoo. Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun is reporting a different story, claiming that Abuh was discovered by a family in a forest just 50 meters (165 feet) from the entrance of the zoo on top of a steep slope. After spotting the tortoise, the family from Okayama city went to the zoo to report their discovery. 
   
   Regardless, of which version is true, it’s clear that Abuh didn’t venture very far from the zoo, most likely because she didn’t really want to, or because she somehow couldn’t. Tortoises may be slow, but given the amount of time Abuh was free, she could have traveled an impressive distance. 
   
   The maximum speed for giant tortoises on dry land is about 0.17 miles per hour (.027 km/hr), which means the most she could have traveled in the 16 days, or 384 hours, she was missing is about 65 miles. But that bit of math assumes she didn’t didn’t stop to sleep at night, or take the time during the day to eat and cool down. So, if we allow for six hours of sleep and about three hours for eating and cooling, that brings her total estimated and potential travel time down to 240 hours. At full travel tilt, that equates to 40 miles (64 km). Not bad. In the real world, experiments have shown that marked tortoises can travel eight miles (13 km) in two to three days. Extrapolating from these figures, a tortoise could conceivably travel 43 miles (69 km), which is pretty close to my back-of-a-napkin estimate. 
   
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   All that said, Abuh is now back in the hands of her handlers and doing quite well, munching on pears and watermelons as if nothing happened. 
   
   “We were so relieved that she came back safely as she is so popular among children,” said zoo staffer Yoshimi Yamane in ChannelNewsAsia. “We will try to take new measures so that this won’t happen again.” 
   
   Seems like a good plan. This is apparently Abuh’s second escape attempt in as many months. 
   
   [AFP via Channel NewsAsia, The Asahi Shimbun]
target: – The top speed of a giant tortoise on dry land, according to Gizmodo, is about 0.17mph. That turned out to be great news for Japan's Shibukawa Animal Park, which had a 121-pound Aldabra giant tortoise named Abuh escape earlier this month. Channel News Asia reports Abuh is allowed to wander around the zoo during operating hours. But on Aug. 1, the 35-year-old tortoise wandered right on out, according to the Asahi Shimbun. Aldabra giant tortoises can survive for months without food or water, but the zoo was anxious to have Abuh back and was offering a $4,500 reward for her safe return. The Asahi Shimbun reports Abuh was returned Wednesday after a family spotted her on a steep hill in a forest 160 feet or so from the zoo. But Channel News Asia states the tortoise was found in some bushes nearly 500 feet from the zoo. Regardless, Abuh didn't make it far. The zoo says she appears healthy and has been eating pears and watermelon since her return. "We were so relieved that she came back safely as she is so popular among children," zoo staffer Yoshimi Yamane says, per Gizmodo. Yamane says the zoo will try to take steps to prevent Abuh from escaping in the future, as this was actually her second disappearing act in a month.