Saint-Saens - The Tortoise
Sad news from Paris, Kiki the tortoise has died aged 146. Staff at the Paris menagerie paid tribute to the giant tortoise whose 'demonstrative lovemaking' made him a favourite with the French public.
"He had a kind of charisma … a certain personality." said deputy director Michel Saint Jalme. According to Marie-Claude Bomsel, a vet at the zoo, he was so vigorous in his pursuit of female tortoises that his grunts could be heard from the other end of the zoo and the Jardin des Plantes.
Frédéric Lewino, a science writer at Le Point magazine, wrote that, though advanced in age, Kiki remained "fresh" to the end. Kiki weighed 250kg and had to be moved about using a forklift. "However crushed they were...the females suffered his assaults without any complaint," he remarked.
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R.I.P Kiki
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