Gruesome Nature: Giant Tortoise Attacking and Eating Baby Bird Caught on Film

A Seychelles giant tortoise, previously thought to be strictly herbivorous, was seen chasing and eating a fledgling bird in a "horrifying and magnificent" attack, with researchers claiming it was the first known evidence of the species' deliberate hunting in the wild.

The female giant tortoise stalks a lesser noddy tern chick on Fregate Island in July 2020, snapping at it unsuccessfully before delivering a deadly bow by clamping its jaws directly around its head.

Fregate Island, privately owned and maintained for ecotourism, is home to roughly 3,000 giant tortoises. Other tortoises have been seen in the vicinity carrying out similar attacks, but no tortoise species has ever been actively chasing prey in the wild.

An Unexpected Behavior

"These days, the combination of tree-nesting terns and giant tortoise populations on Fregate Island is unusual," Gerlach added. However, our findings show that when ecosystems are restored, completely unanticipated interactions between species may emerge - things that likely happened frequently in the past but we've never seen it before."

According to Gerlach, the video could show a "population of tortoises evolving a novel sort of behavior with evolutionary ramifications," according to Gerlach. However, the resurgence of seabird and tortoise populations could also have "recreated conditions for natural behaviors that people haven't seen in hundreds of years."

Evolution

The contacts of naturalist Charles Darwin with giant tortoises in the Galápagos Islands were crucial in developing contemporary evolutionary theories. Darwin discovered that each island in the chain had its unique kind of gigantic tortoise after visiting a number of them.

"It's apparent that they enjoy eating terns," Gerlach continued. However, they're going to much difficulty compared to how easy it is to eat plants."

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