--- title: Giant Tortoise Escapes Zoo and Is Found 500 Feet Away description: A Japanese zoo was missing their giant tortoise for two whole weeks before she was discovered not far from the zoo itself. canonical: https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-16T19:53:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:34.145Z og:title: This Giant Escaped Tortoise Didn't Run That Far After All og:description: The tortoise was gone for two weeks — and was discovered just 140 meters away og:url: https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/ 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: This Giant Escaped Tortoise Didn't Run That Far After All twitter:description: The tortoise was gone for two weeks — and was discovered just 140 meters away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Tortoise With Serious Independent Streak Escapes Zoo. She Didn't Get Far.  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 16, 2017 7:53 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 16, 2017 7:53 PM UTC Don’t sleep on an ambitious [giant tortoise](http://time.com/4272817/tortoise-bath-cute/). Abuh, a resident of Japan’s Shibukawa Zoological Park in Okayama Prefecture, is a 35-year-old specimen with a serious independent streak. She made a break for it about two weeks ago, when zoo officials noticed her absence and [alerted local residents](http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASK8J2W0GK8JPTIL008.html) to keep an eye out for the hard-shelled creature who clocks in at about 120 lbs. Described as “gentle,” Abuh was allowed to roam freely around the zoo grounds. But that proved a mistake, as she had already meandered her way to freedom a previous time earlier in the month before being brought back into the fold. For nearly two whole weeks, Abuh managed to escape notice, living her best life beyond the confines of her zoo enclosure. (Giant tortoises like Abuh can live without food and water for several months, too, meaning she wasn’t in any rush to find a new place to call home.) On Wednesday, however, news outlets reported her time as a free tortoise had come to a close. She was [discovered](https://www.yahoo.com/news/giant-tortoise-fled-japan-zoo-found-140-metres-110217915.html) a mere 140 meters — about 459 feet — from the zoo, hidden in some shrubbery. “We were so relieved that she came back safely as she is so popular among children,” zoo staffer Yoshimi Yaman [told news outlets.](http://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/japan-giant-tortoise-that-fled-zoo-twice-found-140-metres-away-1738421) As for Abuh? Looks like she’ll have to try a new tactic in her next bid for independence. Slow but steady, right? > [](https://twitter.com/RussCanRead/status/897828139497398272) > [](https://twitter.com/TwittaDhee/status/897833058774032386) > [](https://twitter.com/MrJDCoco/status/897809551797440513) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/"},"headline":"Tortoise With Serious Independent Streak Escapes Zoo. She Didn't Get Far.","datePublished":"2017-08-16T19:53:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:34.145Z","description":"A Japanese zoo was missing their giant tortoise for two whole weeks before she was discovered not far from the zoo itself.","url":"https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/","keywords":["Newsfeed","animals","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4903381/giant-tortoise-escape/","name":"Tortoise With Serious Independent Streak Escapes Zoo. She Didn't Get Far."}}]}] ```