100-year-old African tortoise reunited with family after being rescued from canal, officials say

By Maxime Tamsett and Fabiana Chaparro, CNN

(CNN) — A 100-year-old African tortoise named Biscuit has been reunited with his family after being rescued from a canal, according to the Parish of Ascension in Louisiana.

A local animal control team rescued the tortoise on Wednesday after the sheriff’s office found it “in distress” in New River Canal, located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, a Facebook post from the parish stated.

Animal control officers Curt Trepagnier and Isreal Millet “humanely contained, loaded into the truck, and safely transported” Biscuit to Cara’s House-Ascension Parish Animal Shelter, the post detailed.

The tortoise was placed on a three-day stray hold at Cara’s House. If an owner didn’t claim it in three days, it would have been put up for adoption, but Biscuit’s reunion with its family didn’t take long.

The shelter shared Facebook photos and video of the reunion with its owner, Lamoine Howard, Wednesday. “We are happy to report that Biscuit has been reunited with his family! This boy is 100 years old,” the post read.

Under the post, Howard thanked the animal shelter for helping to “return our Biscuit home.” The tortoise had escaped after “the wind and rain … blew my back gate open and broke the latch,” according to Howard.

A video on the shelter’s Facebook page showed the centenarian tortoise slowly walking in front of his owner toward Howard’s pickup truck.

“I told my wife this morning (Wednesday) that I would fix it Sunday, and it would be fine till then,” Howard wrote under the post, adding, “Biscuit had other plans.”

CNN has reached out to Howard for comment.

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CNN’s Ashley R. Williams contributed to this report.