'Slow News' Day As Mesa Officials Find 150-Pound Tortoise

MESA, AZ – It was a slow news day in Mesa as city officials found a tortoise making its way along a canal. It was found Sunday morning by Broadway Road and 24th Street.

City officials say that the tortoise – which has since been identified as an African sulcata tortoise – weighed in at about 150 pounds.

It was too big to fit into the city's animal control truck so a wildlife refuge group was called to help.

They responded with a bigger truck and turned the animal over to the state's Fish and Game Department.

Officials there, in turn, found the tortoise's rightful owner.

African sulcata tortoises can live up to 100 years and some males weigh in at more than 200 pounds.

No word on how the tortoise escaped.

Photo via City of Mesa.