--- title: Explorer Interrupts Mating Tortoises: Video description: Mating tortoise chases explorer Paul Rose in National Geographic video filmed on Assumption Island in Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. canonical: https://time.com/3754279/mating-tortoises-national-geographic/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-23T16:34:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:51.225Z og:title: See What a Tortoise Does When a Broadcaster Interrupts His Mating Exercise og:description: Mating tortoise chases explorer Paul Rose in National Geographic video filmed on Assumption Island in Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. og:url: https://time.com/3754279/mating-tortoises-national-geographic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: See What a Tortoise Does When a Broadcaster Interrupts His Mating Exercise twitter:description: Mating tortoise chases explorer Paul Rose in National Geographic video filmed on Assumption Island in Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch What Happens When a TV Presenter Interrupts Mating Tortoises  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 23, 2015 4:34 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 23, 2015 4:34 PM UTC This _National Geographic_ video captures the moment when explorer and TV presenter Paul Rose and his camera man are “chased” away by a male tortoise that was caught getting ready to mate with a female tortoise. The incident took place on Assumption Island, which is north of Madagascar and part of the the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. This clip has racked up more than 1.6 million views since it was uploaded to YouTube. It is unclear whether the encounter left the tortoise feeling shell-shocked. ### Photos: Inside a Hospital for California's Stranded Seals and Sea Lions  A California sea lion sits on the edge of a pool at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  California sea lions swim and sit out in the sun while visitors look on at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Harbor seal pups wear plastic identification tags that help caregivers tell them apart at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Herring breakfasts are organized and labeled for each seal and sea lion at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A harbor seal pup wears a plastic "hat tag," used to identify individual animals at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A malnourished elephant seal pup looks outside a pen at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Volunteers tube-feed a malnourished harbor seal pup at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A volunteer restrains an elephant seal pup while the animal is fed through a tube at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A shaved patch on the back of a harbor seal shows where blood was drawn during an admit exam at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Seals and sea lions released back into their natural habitat are added to annual graduation posters at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Researchers perform a necropsy on a California sea lion that died of malnutrition at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Dr. Shawn Johnson, Director of Veterinary Science, listens to the lungs of a young sea lion under anesthesia at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  A California sea lion pup undergoes surgery for a lymph node abscess at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Students on a field trip learn what to do if they find a stranded seal on the beach at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  Siobhan Rickert, 18, has been a volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center for four years She is one of a dedicated network of 1,100 volunteers who help run the facility in Marin County, Calif., May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  An elephant seal pup lies in an enclosure at the Marine Mammal Center in Marin County, Calif. on May 9, 2014. Corey Arnold for TIME  The Marine Mammal Center sits where the U.S. military once had a missile site outside San Francisco, in the Marin Headlands, Calif., May 9, 2014. 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