Giant tortoises separate after 115 years of 'marriage'

Reptillienzoo Happ

Two giant tortoises living at an Austrian zoo have gone their separate ways after spending a remarkable 115 years together.

The Daily Mail reports that the tortoises, called Bibi and Poldi, have lived happily at the zoo in Klagenfurt for 36 years, having moved together from Basel zoo in Switzerland.

Both 115 years old, the pair grew up together and eventually became an item. But now they have fallen out - and no one knows why.

Zoo boss Helga Happ told The Austrian Times: "We get the feeling they can't stand the sight of each other any more."

She added: "For no reason that anyone can discover they seem to have fallen out, they just can't stand each other."

Bibi, the female tortoise, initiated the break-up when she attacked Poldi, biting off a chunk of his shell.

She launched further attacks on her partner until he was moved to a different location. They are now being kept apart as they are strong enough to kill each other.

The zoo has now called in experts to try and reunite the tortoises. They were fed aphrodisiacs and encouraged to play games together, but neither has method worked.

Helga Happ said that it's "very rare" for animals who have been a pair for so long to separate and says, "we hope we can bring round a reconciliation."

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