Turtles survive in closed rooms for more than 30 years

The red-footed tortoise suddenly disappeared from a house since 1982 and it was found in the locked room of the house.

Manuela, the name of a red-footed tortoise, disappeared from Leonel Almeida's home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1982. He and everyone in his family tried to find it but did not see it. They thought it was crawling out when the door opened, Mirror reported.

After Leonel died in January, his children decided to clean up a room on the second floor of the house. When Leonel was alive, he kept broken electronics in this room and always locked the door.

Manuela Turtle has lived for more than 30 years with electrical equipment
Death in the warehouse room on the second floor of the house. (Photo: Mirror)

Leandro, his son Leonel, took a box of old phonographs to the sidewalk for the garbage workers to pick it up. A neighbor glanced over the box and asked: 'Are you going to throw away the turtle?'.

Immediately Leandro looked at the box and saw a turtle. It is Manuela.

'At that time my face turned white. I can't believe the scene before , ' Leandro said.

'We are happy to find Manuela, but no one understands why it survived in that room for more than 30 years. It's an unbelievable story, 'said Lenita, Leonel's daughter.

Jeferson Pires, a veterinarian in the city of Rio de Janeiro, said that red-footed tortoises can starve for two to three years. In the wild they eat fruits, leaves, animal carcasses and even feces.

'It is possible that Manuelaa survived by eating termites on wooden floors , ' he argued.