Next time there is a race, the tortoise may not have to wait for the hare to fall asleep!
A UK zoo is training its giant tortoises to walk faster than their less-a-mile speeds so that they can plod more quickly to their bed.
Staff members at the Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire, in the UK are feeding treats to Speedy, 70, Tom, 40 and Shelly, 30 so that they can exceed their normal plodding speed of less than one miles per hour as they cross a new, larger pen, the 'Daily Express' reported.
"We use a target and the tortoises' favourite foods. We hold the target a few centimetres in front of them and when they touch it with their nose we say 'good' and feed them. We then move the target further away and repeat the process," zoo keeper Kris Hern said.
According to Hern's colleague at the zoo, Ryan Berry, training tortoises is "a very slow process".
