Tortoise intelligence

rjamesbeasley

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 15, 2015
Messages
119
Location (City and/or State)
Southend on sea (England)
I think that tortoises do have some intelligence; here's why...
You may be aware of a series on the BBC known as the secret Life of the zoo, where the in's and outs of everyday life for the staff and animals is revealed. One episode had the tortoise enclosure at its centre and this had one alpha male (lets call him Jerry as I've forgotten his name) who had his pick of the females; rather understandably, he had nothing to grumble about. One day, however, a new, younger male, called football, was introduced and this was the end for poor Jerry, who was frequently turned over, lost his females and refused to eat to the extent that he was in danger of death!
To prevent this from happening, the zookeepers erected a series of posts in the enclosures that cordened off football from Jerry, so he was now back on top, had all the females and made a full recovery. At night, however, the females, who where small enough to fit through the posts even if football was not, snuck by to football whilst Jerry slept to "enjoy football's company", so to speak. They then returned before Jerry awoke the following morning, he being none the wiser!
My question is, if these animals have no intelligence comparable to a dog for example, then why did the females only visit at night, why did they mind that football was separate from Jerry and did they know that choosing team football would kill Jerry?
What do you think?
 
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