Watch the World’s Fastest Tortoise Break the World Record

Meet Bertie – a tortoise from the UK. He loves to eat strawberries floating in the water and spend time with his girlfriend! He’s also an unusually fast tortoise – but is he THE fastest?

The guys at Guinness World Records put him through his paces to find out. Bertie was released at the bottom of a specially designed ramp where he achieved a speed of 0.92 feet per second. That was enough to earn him the title of the world’s fastest tortoise. Well done to Bertie who celebrated by taking a poop on his owner’s shoes!

How Fast Can Tortoises Normally Run?

‘Running’ is perhaps not the best way of describing how tortoises move. However, they are willing to speed up if they think they are in danger. There are many different species of tortoises and they all travel at different speeds. It’s no surprise that the fastest species is a leopard tortoise which is exactly what Bertie is! These guys can reach speeds of 0.3 mph.

Why Are Tortoises So Slow?

There are several reasons why tortoises are less than speedy. Firstly, they don’t have to hunt and therefore don’t have to run to catch prey. Tortoises are herbivores so as long as they are amongst vegetation, there will be plenty of food for them.  

The second reason is that they have a slow metabolism. This refers to the speed of the physical and chemical processes that go on inside an animal’s body to keep it alive. They can survive for a very long time without food. When they do eat, they take a long time to convert it into energy.

Finally, they do not rely on speed to get away from their enemies. Instead, they have evolved their protection mechanism which they carry around with them – their shell. When danger arrives, they retreat into their protective house. Most predators find it impossible to crack open their hard shells and get at the soft flesh underneath.

Which Other Animals Are Slow?

Tortoises are not the only animals with a reputation for being slow. The three-toed sloth spends most of its day in treetops without moving a muscle. They also have a very low metabolic rate and can be seen moving at 1 foot per minute which equates to 0.011 mph! But even that is speedy in comparison with the garden snail which moves at around 0.0006 mph! Compared to this Bertie is a speedster!  

Watch the Incredible Speed Below!

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Sergio Lacueva/ via Getty Images