An article in the Prague Daily Monitor today caught my eye...simply because this little fella is just so adorable!
The article states...
Prague, March 15 (CTK) - A young Egyptian tortoise, one of the world's most endangered species, hatched in the Prague zoo this weekend, measuring 2.5 cm and weighing 5.5 grammes, the keepers have told journalists.
The "closely watched" egg spent 81 days in an incubator. This species ranks among the most vulnerable in terms of breeding, the keepers said.
The Egyptian tortoise is a small terrestrial tortoise living along the Mediterranean coast. It is on the brink of extinction as its habitats have been devastated and the rest of its population is threatened with poachers and local inhabitants, zoo spokeswoman Jana Ptacinska Jiratova said.
Only about 4,700 specimen survive in the wild, she added.
The Prague zoo's 15 Egyptian tortoises, including the fresh arrival, are part of a new European salvation programme.
Ten of them arrived in Prague last December. Originally they were part of a consignment of 400 tortoises that were smuggled from Libya and confiscated by Italian authorities.
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