Escaped tortoise found in Manitoba after two weeks and 12-mile mystery

An escaped tortoise found in Manitoba has left one key part of her two-week disappearance unresolved: Molly was recovered at Oak Hammock Marsh, about 12.4 miles from the home she left, but nobody knows whether she made the entire trip under her own steam.

UPI reported Aug. 13 that Molly, a 15-year-old African spurred tortoise, had been missing for two weeks when staff at the Manitoba nature preserve located her. The distance is between her home and the marsh, not a confirmed measure of how far she walked.

How was the escaped tortoise found in Manitoba?

Oak Hammock Marsh said it received several reports of a tortoise on the property. The calls initially raised doubts because tortoises are not native to Canada, according to UPI.

Gillian Malchuk, a nature interpreter at the marsh, told CTV News that staff considered whether visitors had spotted a snapping turtle, a painted turtle or even mistaken an object for an animal. Then a visitor supplied a photograph that showed an African spurred tortoise.

That set off a two-day search of the preserve. Molly eventually appeared in the parking lot, UPI reported.

Malchuk took the tortoise home temporarily while marsh staff worked to identify her owner.

Did Molly walk 12.4 miles to Oak Hammock Marsh?

The answer remains unknown. Malchuk said it was possible that Molly covered the distance herself, but she considered another explanation more likely: someone may have seen the animal near a highway and brought her to the wetland believing it was the right place for her.

That account is a theory, not a confirmed route. What is established is that Molly went missing from a home roughly 12.4 miles from Oak Hammock Marsh and was later found at the preserve.

African spurred tortoises are native to the Sahara Desert, UPI reported, making the reports from a Manitoba marsh an unusual clue that led staff to Molly.

This story draws on original reporting from UPI.