Family members were stunned to discover that their pet turtle had been alive after 30 years.
The turtle Manuela disappeared from the home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1982, and despite an extensive search, the family was unable to find her.
Manuela’s owner, the Almeida family, believed their beloved turtle had escaped after construction workers left a door open and forgot to close it. It wasn’t until their father, Leonel, passed away in 2013, that the Almeida children began cleaning out a second-floor room filled with broken appliances that had always been locked.
Leonel’s son, Leandro, shared his surprise at finding Manuela alive inside a box that contained an old record player.
“I had placed the box out on the sidewalk for the garbage collectors, and a neighbor asked me, ‘You’re not planning to throw away the turtle too, are you?'” Leandro said. “I looked back and saw the turtle. I was stunned, unable to believe what I was seeing.”
Lenita, who had received the turtle as a childhood pet, remarked, “Everything my father thought could be repaired, he collected and brought home. If he found an old TV, he believed he could use its parts to fix another one in the future, so he kept gathering items. None of us ever dared to go into that room. We were all thrilled to have Manuela back. But no one could understand how she could survive for 30 years in there; it’s truly unbelievable.”
Jeferson Pires, a veterinarian in Rio de Janeiro, explained that the red-footed tortoise Manuela can live for long periods without food. “They are particularly resilient and can survive for two to three years without eating. In the wild, they feed on fruits, leaves, dead animals, and even feces.”
He noted that Manuela may have survived by eating termites from the wooden floor.
