Chester Zoo's new ploughshare tortoise Hope was rescued from smugglers and fitted with rollers.
Image caption,Hope was found, along with 56 other endangered tortoises, three years ago by Hong Kong border officials.
The owner of the suitcase, a man from the Comoro Islands in East Africa, was later jailed for two years for smuggling. The reptile was initially taken to an animal rescue centre in Hong Kong where support rollers were fitted under its lower shell to help it balance.Dr Garcia, the zoo's curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates said Hope had had "a remarkable life story"."He moves even quicker than his three neighbours," he added.Director of animals and plants Mike Jordan said Hope was "such an important addition to the zoo".
He said the species was "sadly under huge pressure for its survival" and there was a "very real possibility [it] could be lost forever". He added that Hope would help "maintain an ark population" and join a breeding programme to create "a genetically viable safety net population and prevent its extinction".Why not follow BBC North West on
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