Video: This 500-pound tortoise has been escaping zoos for decades
You might think "Rocket" is a funny name for slow moving tortoise. But the 90-year-old, 500-pound tortoise is a master escape artist who has broken out of enclosures at two different zoos.
Now, the massive reptile finally has a new home where he can't roam.
Watch the video above to see Rocket move
Rocket is one of the first animals ever at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Kansas when it opened in the early '70s, bringing smiles to faces for decades.
But nearly 40 years later, in 2009, the more than 500-pound tortoise realized how big he was and became an escape artist.
"He actually attained a length that could span the length of the bars," said Nate Nelson with the Sedgwick County Zoo. "He could get his legs over the edge of this and just walk right down."
Nelson was Rocket's handler back in 2009. He says when he would escape, it was impossible to lift him back up, so it would take hours to walk him all the way around and back up to his exhibit.
That's when Nelson made the tough decision to send him off to a better home.
He said, "It was difficult, because he's always been a zoo favorite here, both the keepers and the public. But he was just too big for that indoor exhibit any longer."
Nelson shipped Rocket off to Tulsa where his new handler, Chris Williams, first met him. But it didn't last long.
Williams explained, "We had the same problem where he escaped there multiple times."
So it was off to maximum security for the 90-year-old tortoise 바카라 게임 웹사이트 a brand new state-of-the-art exhibit at the Bronx Zoo.
But finally, more than a decade later, with an escape-proof area to live, Rocket is home.
"We did get to open a new giant tortoise exhibit for Galapagos tortoises. And it's much more secure here," Williams said.
Nelson says while he's pretty sure it's one-sided, he's glad he gets to spend every day again with one of his oldest friends.
Nelson said, "I don't think he recognizes me. But it's hard to say you know, you can't, they don't really have any facial features."